Friend
by Vivid Insomnia
Summary: Atom over the Summer struggles with his own image externally and internally, as he goes through a journey to accept himself once more. (RATED T FOR SWEARING AND MATURE THEMES) [ELEVENTH INSTALLMENT IN THE VIVID INSOMNIA ASTRO BOY FAN FICTION SERIES]
1. Thinking Out Loud

_"Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes, hoping that you'll understand."_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter one: Thinking out loud

"Good morning Metro City! Today's weather report is brought to you by Valentine's Day even though it passed 5 months ago, and by Summer, because there's nothing wrong with having fun in the bun- in the bun? In the bun? Pffffft, OK can we start all over again?"

"Good morning Metro City! Today's weather report is brought to you by Valentine's Day even though it passed 6 months, wait, its 5 months ago isn't it? It- it is? UGH!"

"Good morning Metro City! Today's weather report is brought to you by my crazy eyes I can't stop flashing!"

"Good morning Metro City! Today's weather report is brought to you by Valentine's Day even though it passed 5 months ago, and by Summer, because there's nothing wrong with having fun in the sun! Today's forecast calls for a 10% I 40% love and 50% you, and with a 100% chance of I love you. I'm Atom volunteering for the Metro City news, and i'll see you around the city!"

Kaitlyn was driving in her car one Summer early morning, the sun was just peaking over the horizon.

She pulled into Elefun's driveway.

"He's gonna be so ecstatic when he sees me walk through that door." She said to herself as she turned her car off and unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Well guys i'm off to work, Atom keep an eye on your sister, and Uran, don't give Atom a hard time."Elefun said to both Atom and Uran.

"Yes professor!" the two siblings said in unision.

Elefun gathered his things and walked out the door.

"Oh! why isn't it Kaitlyn coming here to visit!" Elefun said as he saw Kaitlyn walk up to the entry of the house.

"Yup, just here to visit my ol' buddy!" She replied.

"Well you have a great day then, I better hurry, don't wanna be late!" Elefun scurried away and to his car.

Kaitlyn knocked on the door.

Uran got up and walked over to it.

"Uran wait!" Atom exclaimed.

Uran turned around.

"What?"

"You don't open the door to strangers…" He said as he walked up to her.

"Oh really, and what are you about to do now?"

"Go see if it's a stranger?"

"Hmph." Uran folded her arms.

Atom walked over to the front door and checked to see who it was.

He peeked through a hole and saw Kaitlyn standing there with a smile.

Atom, with pure excitement, unlocked the door, opened it, and hugged her tightly.

"Woah! Hey!" She giggled.

"Hi kaitlyn!" Atom greeted.

"ME TOO! I WANNA HUG KAITLYN!" Uran ran to Kaitlyn and Atom and almost toppled them over as she joined in on the hug.

"Haha. Hi Atom. Hi Uran."

"Hi! Why don't you come inside? The professor had to leave for work, so he's not here right now, but you can still stay here and chill..."

"Yeah. Sure. I'll chill." She smiled.

Atom and Uran let go of her so she could go inside.

Atom closed the door behind her and locked it as well.

"So did you hear?" Atom asked.

"Hear what? Who died?!"

"I volunteered at the Metro City news!" Atom replied.

"Oh! That's awesome!"

"They let me do a weather report, they still haven't given me the video yet, they said they have to add in the 'finishing touches'"

"Haha. Well I'm sure it's amazing."

"It was actually quite fun, it took me a while to get the script down, but after that, everything was easy."

"Sounds cool. Wish I could try. I've always wanted to try out my secret acting talent."

"Haha, you should volunteer there someday, they're really nice and patient."

"You think we could do it together? Maybe they would let me do some press work. Always wanted to be a journalist."

"Really? That's awesome." Atom smiled.

"Yeah." Kaitlyn smiled.

Atom sat down on the couch.

"So, what did Brandon say?" He asked.

"Oh. Back when I left last time?"

"Yeah."

"Well. He said he was really busy and that's why we can't get together much. It doesn't seem to be his fault. If anything he doesn't like it. His parents are forcing a lot of it on him."

"Aww, that's terrible, well... I hope it works out for you two."

"Me too. 'Cause it turns out his parents have another girl in mind for him..."

"Aw, just like in the old days when people married for money..." Atom sighed.

"Bet you anything the girls ugly, but her parents are filthy rich."

Kaitlyn sighed.

"I'm really sorry Kaitlyn, I-I know how much Brandon means to you, especially after what Reno did to you, I wish i could do something about it or make it up to you because it really sucks when life is an ahole and does nothing to help you..."

"You don't need to do anything... I just hope this is all the truth... I just... I don't trust anyone anymore... I mean I trust you, and Emily, Tenma, Cindy, Uran. But... Ever since... It's been hard to trust..."

"I know, it's hard... I have a hard time trusting people too, everyone always walks all over me..."

"I-i... I'm really sorry Kaitlyn, I hate to see you in pain. I wish I could make it up to you..." Atom got up and walked over to her.

"You don't need to do anything. And I'm sorry too. I'm sorry people do that to you. I don't wanna see you sad."

Atom paused for a moment and looked at the ground before looking up at Kaitlyn and nodding his head, holding back a few tears.

Kaitlyn gave him a hug.

"I'm glad you came, Kaitlyn, you made my day a billion times better." Atom tried not to sob while he spoke even though he sounded like he was about to.

She hugged a little tighter before letting go.

Atom looked away, still trying to hide his tears before smiling at her.

"If you need to cry, you can."

Atom sighed, he gave up and brought a hand up to his face as he began to sob what seemed to had been both happy and sad tears.

Kaitlyn held him again and rubbed his back.

Atom looked up at her.

"I love you." He said through his tears.

"I love you, too."

"Im sorry, i just feel so helpless, but- but, im glad you're here, and im glad you care about me."

Kaitlyn smiled.

Atom wiped the tears off his face with his arm.

"Feel better now?"

Atom sniffled before nodding.

Kaitlyn smiled again.

Atom smiled back.

"So. Have you seen the rest of the gang while I was gone?"

"Well not really, I've been kinda keeping to myself after the whole incident... But i have been talking with everyone here and maybe even Stephen every once in a while..."

"Well, I was gonna go say hi to everyone. You wanna come? Maybe it'll lift your spirits."

"Sure!" Atom exclaimed.

"Yay! When do you wanna go?"

"Ummmm, not sure..."

"Now? Later? Tomorrow?"

"Im not sure, i guess we should do it while the professor is gone."

"Let's go now, then. Uran, you wanna come, too?!" Kaitlyn yelled upstairs.

"WHAT?" Uran yelled back.

"YOU WANNA GO SAY HI TO EVERYONE WITH ME AND ATOM?!"

"NO!"

"OK THEN."

"Guess she's not coming..." Kaitlyn shrugged.

"DIDN'T WANT HER TO COME ANYWAY, ATOM." She yelled out again.

"Watch this. It's reverse psychology. She'll definitely want to come now knowing that we 'didn't' want her to. Even though we actually do... Kinda..." Kaitlyn whispered to Atom.

They waited a few moments.

Atom walked away to his room to get a sweater before returning again and waiting with Kaitlyn.

"Any second now..." Kaitlyn stared at the stairs.

"Ok, she's not coming."

"WE REALLY DID WANT YOU TO COME, SORRY. LUV YA URAN! BYE! DONT DO DRUGS OR TALK TO STRANGERS!" Kaitlyn yelled up again as she made her way to the door.

Both Atom and Kaitlyn soon got in the car, Kaitlyn took the driver's seat while Atom sat in the back.

She drove off to Emily's house.

"Uh... Guys now is not a great time, umm-"

"EMILY? WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Gotta go, bye!" Emily slammed the door on Kaitlyn and Atom when they stopped by to see her.

"Oooooo. K! Onto the next house!" Kaitlyn happily skipped to the car with a big grin on her face.

Kaitlyn drove away and onto the next house she wanted to visit.

"Kaitlyn? Are you OK?" Atom asked from the back seat.

"Never been better!" She smiled even wider.

"You're acting kinda psycho..."

"Whaaaaaattttt. Pft. Naw."

A few minutes later, she was on Tenma's front step, knocking on his door.

After a couple of seconds, the door opened.

"Oh! Hello Kaitlyn. Hello Atom. Why may I ask did you decide to visit?"

"What? You're asking why? You know why. To visit. Wow Tenma." Kaitlyn chuckled.

"Well maybe you could come visit some other day?"

"What."

Faint crying noises came from inside the house.

"DAAAAADDDDDDD."

"Oh my god... I'm coming Astro!" Tenma yelled into the house.

"DAD SHE WON'T STOP CRYING!"

"THEN TELL CINDY!"

"SHE SAID SHE'S BUSY AND IF I ASK FOR HER AGAIN SHE'LL LOCK ME IN THE BASEMENT."

"Well that's a little harsh..."

"DAAADDDDDD!"

"SHE'S A GODDAMN BABY. WHAT ELSE IS SHE GOING TO DO?!"

"BILL! DID I JUST HEAR YOU CURSE?!"

"Gosh, everyone is losing it.." Atom shuddered at the yelling.

"I'm sorry guys, but I have some matters to attend to..."

"Oh... That's OK." Kaitlyn smiled.

Her and Atom walked away as Tenma closed the door.

"So uh, what now?"

"I have no idea... Anyone else we can visit?" Her smile had faded a little.

"Ummmm... We can try Stephen's house, if he's not too chicken to open the door."

"Well he knows us. He should open the door."

"Yeah, thats our best bet for today, it's a bonus he's an only child so im sure there'll be no yelling..."

"Ok. Let's go then!"

Kaitlyn knocked on the door.

After a few minutes, they heard a voice talking to himself.

The door soon opened.

"ARE YOU A STRANG- Oh, its you people.."

"HI STEPHEN!" Kaitlyn waved to him.

"Hi."

"You're not busy dealing with screaming parents or anyone else, are you?"

"I'm home alone and terrified, thanks for asking."

"Oh. Well you wanna hang? Chill?"

"I'm home alone and terrified, thanks for asking."

"Um... Is that a no?"

"I dunno, how should i know I'm home alone and terrified..."

"Uhhhhhh... Atom! Look! You're boo!" Kaitlyn turned around and looked at Atom.

"Hi."

"Hi Stephen!" Atom waved.

"Hi."

"How's about we walk inside.. Hey, hey... Maybe play some super smash-"

"You had me at Super!" Stephen moved out of the way for Atom and Kaitlyn to walk inside.

Atom walked in first.

"Wow! I love Super Sma-" Kaitlyn began.

Stephen accidentally closed the door on her.

"Ummm... HELLO?! ATOM! STEPHEN! I'M STILL OUT HERE!"

Stephen opened the door.

"You know, you should have said something before i shut the door on your face."

"I did..." She said through her teeth.

"Oh... Looks like i need a hearing aid too, wonderful..."

"Haha! Funny Stephen!" Kaitlyn walked in with her same psychotic smile plastered on her face.

"Yup." He said as he walked over to his room and walked to his computer and sat down.

"Oh, I didn't know you got a fish!" Atom commented.

Stephen turned around.

"Oh yeah, I got a goldfish to replace my dead cat." He said as he got up and walked over to where Atom was standing.

"I named him Steve. Now he's Steve the goldfish."

"Aw. Cute!" Kaitlyn stood next to them and looked at the fish.

"He scares me..." Stephen took a step back from the fish tank.

"Ok... Imma just go over to the couch in the living room." Kaitlyn walked away slowly.

"Sure thing, just don't ummm... Make a messie..."

"Yup!" Kaitlyn gave him a thumbs up.

"How could you be scared of a goldfish?" Atom asked.

"Well, when it stares at you all the time in a creepy way, I'd be surprised if I _wasn't_ scared..."

"But its a fi-"

"It's not a fish, its Steve the goldfish..."

Kaitlyn plopped down across the couch face down. She grabbed a pillow and silently screamed into it.

"So uh... Anything new?"

"Hmmm... I got a goldfish..."

"Anything other than Steve the goldfish?"

"Ummmmm... Ummmmm...ummmmmm... Hi."

"Oh come on Stephen, you gotta get out of your-"

"Hi."

"Oh my god. What even is this? This doesn't count as third-wheeling, does it? Probably not. Well maybe. Gaaaahhhhhhh! Today is just not going well, now is it? What is life?" Kaitlyn said to herself as she stared at the ceiling.

"Uhhh Atom, I think your friend's on drugs..." Stephen whispered to Atom.

Atom bursted out laughing.

"Oh shit they can hear me..." She whispered.

Atom walked over to Stephen's desk and sat down in his chair.

"Spin me around!" Atom exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.

"Oh no, remember what happened last time, almost had a heart attack.."

"Oh come on, just one last time, please?"

Stephen sighed.

"Fine, since i have nothing else better to do with my life..."

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Atom yelled with excitement.

Kaitlyn walked in to see what was going on. The second she saw, she walked back out and to the couch to rethink her life... Again...

"Wooo, that was awesome!"

Stephen walked out of the room.

"Aww come on, you're leaving me again?!" Atom complained.

"I HAVE TO PEE DANG IT?!"

Atom sighed.

"Well Atom, the only thing left for you to do is wait, wait for the bae to return, wait for the perfection..."

Kaitlyn looked over at the chair next to the couch.

"Maybe... Since I'm obviously already losing it... I should do a self-therapy session... Or something like that."

She got up and sat in the chair.

Atom walked into the room.

"Kaitlyn I can't wait for the bae or perfection any longer!"

"OH! You can do it! Come here!" Kaitlyn stood up excitedly.

"Kaitlyn, are you on... Drugs..."

"No.. But I'm considering... I mean um... Can you be like my therapist or something..."

"Okay... Ummmmmmm..."

"IM BACK!"

"Atom? Atom? DID STEVE THE GOLDFISH EAT YOU ALIVE?! OH GOSH IM SO SORRY, IM SORRY I LET YOU GET EATEN BY A SMALL, TERRIBLE CREATURE?!"

"Wow... Ok... Maybe _he's_ the one that needs therapy."

Atom was laughing super hard.

"BAD STEVE, YOU ATE ATOM, HOW COULD YOU?! AND YOU SEEMED SO FRIENDLY AT THE PET STORE!"

"So. Do you guys ever like make out?" Kaitlyn casually asked Atom.

"Ummmmmmmm..." Atom blushed.

"STEPHEN, SHES ONTO US!" Atom yelled.

"So is that a no?"

Stephen walked out into the living room.

"Oh... So you're not dead, haha... Haha, and here I'm thinking its my goldfish, haha, haha, HAHA, i need help..."

"Atom you never answered me..."

"Well... Um... You see... We're nice people... You know... Nice and innocent people... So umm.. We like to keep things classy..."

"Ok. Good. You guys are adorable though. I'm so glad I hooked you up. I'm like the dating guru of this town. I practically got everyone together... Wait... No... Emily was with me... And considering my terrible choice in boyfriends whom she does not show any interest in is making it so clear to me now. EMILY IS THE ULTIMATE MATCHMAKER HOLY SHIT!"

Stephen spit out the water he was drinking when he made it back into the living room and heard Kaitlyn speak.

She started running in circles. "OH MY GOD WE COULD START A BUSINESS! I'd be rich! I mean we... WE would be rich! HA! WAIT MAYBE ITS REALLY ME WHO'S THE MATCHMAKER. IM THE ONE THAT FORCED CINDY TO SEE TENMA! But Emily is the one that got Atom and Stephen together. WE COULD BE PARTNERS! BOTH OF US! DATING GURUS! I LOVE IT! HAHAHAHAAHAHA!"

"Well... Uh... Isn't today a great day to be alive..."

"You said it!" Atom replied.

Kaitlyn blacked out and fell to the ground.

"KAITLYN?!" Atom gasped.

"SERIOUSLY STEVE, COME ON?!"

"Is she dead?"

"Uh... No no... She's good." Atom replied.

Kaitlyn groaned.

A few minutes later she woke up.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. Eating all that sugar was a TERRIBLE idea."

Atom blinked.

"You mean to tell me this whole time you've been on a sugar rush, dang. Talk about cray cray." Stephen sat down and took a sip of his water.

"For the most part, yes. It was the sugar. But a part of it was also my despair causing me to act like a lunatic... Not the first time that happened... So yes. Sugar high. Yes."

"You should get that checked out..."

"Nah. I'm good."

"Lord bless this household..." Stephen looked up at the ceiling.

"Preach it, brothah." Kaitlyn held her index finger up.

He stared at her and blinked.

She finally sat up. "Wow. I'm reallllyyyy tired now..."

"Good for you, I haven't slept in days..."

"You really should so something about that... You can do it right now... While I take a nap on this nice carpet." Kaitlyn plopped down on the ground again and snored.

"Nah... Why sleep when you have Minecrafts..." Stephen got up and left the room.

"So i guess it's just me all alone." Atom said to himself.

Stephen walked back in and motioned Atom to follow him.

Atom squealed and caught up to him.

Kaitlyn woke up again a while later.

"I really need to rethink my life choices." She sluggishly stood up and stretched.

She heard what sounded like a few laughs and giggles coming from somewhere.

"Oh my god. I bet they're making out... Kait holy crap stop..." She facepalmed then walked to Stephen's room.

She saw what had seemed to be a died out pillow fight with Stephen wrapping his arms around Atom who continued to laugh.

"Awwwwww. You guys had a pillow fight without me?!" She whined.

"Yeah, pretty much..."

"Bummer."

"I know right."

Kaitlyn stuck her tongue out.

Atom laughed, he let go of Stephen and got down from the bed.

"So. Wanna get going now?" Kaitlyn asked him.

"Ummm i dunno, i feel bad leaving the bae behind, but i must!"

"I mean you can stay if you wanna. There's not anything else to do is there?"

"No it's fine." Atom said as he walked up to Stephen for a kiss.

"OKAY LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD! WHOOOO!" Atom ran out of the room with his arms in the air, yelling.

"Hell yeah! Bye Stephen. Bye Steve. WAIT FOR ME!" Kaitlyn ran after him after waving goodbye to Stephen.

They both got in the car.

"Whoo! That was amazing! I had so much fun!" Atom exclaimed.

"Haha. I looked like a nut again! Woooo! Wait no wooo. That's not really a good thing. But still. WOOOO!

"Yeah, I think you creeped him out a little..."

"Pft. He'll get over it... I hope."

"I just feel really bad for Steve the goldfish..."

"Steve is an evil mastermind. Don't underestimate his power, Atom."

"Ummm... Alright then..."

Kaitlyn laughed. "It was a joke, silly."

"Oh... Hahaha..." Atom chuckled as Kaitlyn drove back to Elefun's house.

"Atom... I figured it out! I FIGURED IT OUT!" Kaitlyn squealed after she parked.

"What is it?"

"I know how to find time to be with Brandon!"

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah! I'll just do some of the stuff he does _with him_! Might make it less boring for him, and we'll have more time together. Plus I know my share of etiquette and I've always wanted to do cool fancy stuff. So it's a win-win-win situation."

"Oh... yeah..."

"What... Would that not work... Am I being overenthusiastic about this?"

"No no... I'm happy for you..."

"But you don't sound so happy."

"No no... I'm fine."

"No you're not. Something's bothering you."

"No... I'm just being selfish..."

"What do you mean... Oh is it because you miss Stephen already?"

"No no... It's not that, it's just... I... I'm really happy for you, okay?! I truly, truly am?! But I guess now with you making plans for Brandon, you forgot about plans for me!" Atom stormed away.

"Atom!" Kaitlyn went after him.

Atom slammed the door to his room and slid down the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest and sobbing.

"Wow. I've been getting doors closed in my face all day!" Kaitlyn laughed nervously.

She sighed.

"Atom... You know I love you and would never forget about you."

"Just go away, I'm a monster, i'm just a big bad wolf trying to ruin your relationship!"

"No you're not! I would have never have gotten as far as I did if it weren't for you. I might not have even gone to see him, let alone talk to him again for another year or two."

"No.. You're just saying that to make me feel better..."

"No! It's true! I promise."

Atom stood up and pressed his forehead against the door.

"Im sorry..." He whispered.

"It's ok. If anything, it's my fault. I've been talking about him far too much today. I need to just relax and forget about everything."

Atom continued to cry the more he thought.

"Can I come in?"

Atom walked away from the door.

He nodded.

"I'm going to assume you nodded even though I can't see you."

She opened the door and walked inside.

She saw Atom standing there, crying yet again.

She walked up to him and put her arms around him.

Atom liked being in the warmth of Kaitlyn's secure arms.

"I would never forget about you. Best friends never do that." She whispered to him.

Atom sobbed even more as a smile appeared on his face.

(The end of chapter one.)


	2. The Ballad of Kaitlyn

_"A lonely speaker in a conversation, h_ _er words are swimming through his ears again"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Two: The Ballad of Kaitlyn

"Ah! Stupid bug….."

Atom had been sitting outside his house for a while now, with all kinds of insects flying by him.

If only he could go back inside.

He was getting seriously annoyed.

But that's what you get when you upset the professor.

You get sent outside for the day.

In the hot, steaming June Summer sun.

Atom sighed and folded his arms.

He got up from sitting on the front steps of his home.

Atom looked behind him for a moment to take a peek at the door.

"Hmmm, maybe I can take a quick trip downtown before I pee in my pants or something…."

He sighed again and sat back down.

"Nah, can't take anymore chances today…"

Kaitlyn drove up into the driveway.

"Hey Atom. What're ya doing?" She asked after getting out of the car.

"Hmmmm, you know, just sitting out here in the hot sun…." Atom sighed.

"Oh." She walked up and sat next to him.

Atom leaned forward and propped his head up with his elbows that rested on his legs and his hands with curled up fingers that rested on his chin and touched his cheeks, there was a look of sad and annoyance on his face.

"You wanna go get lunch or something?" She looked over at him.

"Ah, I wish I could…."

"Why can't you?"

"Well, ummmm…. I kinda got in trouble for something really stupid, but as a punishment, I have to sit out here in the hot sun for the rest of the day, can't even go in to eat or pee….which sucks because I kinda really have to go…"

"What?! What kind of torturous abuse is this?!"

"Try telling that to him." Atom pointed upwards as if he was pointing to Elefun's office, AKA the only room Elefun is ever in besides the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and of course his room to sleep, if he ever even does.

"Gosh. Whatever happened to him? He used to be so nice…."

"I think Astro ruined him."

"Hmmm. The Elefun I used to know would be able to put up with that…. maybe he's just getting too old..."

"Hmmmm, maybe." Atom shrugged.

"Well I'm sure whatever you do doesn't matter as long as you're out of the house. He did say to stay outside right? Well just stay outside then."

"Well, i'm sure he means like out here, I don't think he wants me even thinking of going past the mailbox."

"Well if you do go anywhere, you have a good excuse. You were doing what he said after all. He didn't make his orders specific enough so shame on him."

"Well yeah because i'm not like 3 or 4, he doesn't _have_ to be so exact… just saying….."

"This punishment is ridiculous so screw what he says."

"Well uh…. i'm not really much of the rule breaker type.. um…" Atom nervously chuckled.

"You don't have to do what everyone says. You're your own person. You don't need to follow everyone's orders. Just take a little risk and do what _you_ want while still staying in the boundaries."

"Exactly, I think it's safer to be here, who know what could happen if

I can't even stay out here in the sun, the punishment _could_ get worse you know…."

"What's getting a little something to eat gonna do? You can't starve. And you need to go to the bathroom too, probably."

Atom took a moment to think.

"You know what." Atom stood up and began.

"You're right Kaitlyn, so what if I get in trouble and end up in serious trouble, no words can stop me from achieving my needs and goals, mostly needs, but you know…. NOTHING!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit!"

"YEAH!"

"To the downtown!" Atom raced over to Kaitlyn's car.

Kaitlyn chuckled and walked to her car.

"Is it OK if I sit in the back, the front seat scares me, and it's a lot more safer out back…."

"Sit where you want, you're a free man now."

"WHOOOO FREE MAN WHOOOO!"

"YEAH!"

Atom opened the door and jumped in the back seat.

Kaitlyn opened her door and looked up at the window where Elefun's room was.

"Fuck the system." She said as she held up her middle finger to the window and stuck out her tongue.

"Forgive me father." She looked up at the clouds and whispered. ((gotta sin carefully, kids ~kate))

Atom, oblivious to the situation, just looked out the window and at the sky innocently with a smile on his face.

Kaitlyn got in the car and started it up.

"So where you wanna go?" She asked as she pulled out of the driveway.

"I dunno, i've been out there so long, I forgot what the meaning of life was…"

Kaitlyn opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it after a few seconds.

"I think it had to do something with fried chicken, i'm not sure…."

"Oh. Ok…."

"Oh! And i'll have salad and a one way trip to the bathroom."

"Salad? Guess we'll just go to the diner then. We all know they have the best salads."

"Sure, that'll work!"

"Alrighty!" Kaitlyn turned left and drove off towards downtown.

When they soon got there, Kaitlyn turned off the car and the both of them got out.

They walked in and got a table.

Atom soon got up and made a sprint for the restroom.

AFter finding what she wanted to eat, Kaitlyn put her menu down and looked around the near empty diner.

Emily walked into the dinner.

"Well come on." She began.

"Emily?!" Kaitlyn whispered to herself as she sunk down into her seat so that she could just about see over the table.

A boy walked in behind her, he looked similar to Emily in age.

"Ooooo I've never seen him before… I wonder who he is and what he's doing with Emi." Kaitlyn thought.

Emily smiled and moved out of the way for him.

"So are we getting a tab-"

"Yup! Table for two please!" Emily exclaimed.

Atom walked out of the bathroom and sat in front of Kaitlyn.

"Shhhhh. Stay down then look behind you." She said in a quiet tone.

"Huh?" Atom was confused.

"Just get below the booth then peek over. There's someone we know here, but they're with someone we don't."

"Ooooh, ok…"

Atom crouched down and looked behind him.

Emily and the mystery boy were being led by one of the waiters to their table.

Kaitlyn sat back up and opened the menu. She held it close to her face as she glanced over at Emily.

"So I hear you like music?" Emily asked.

"Oh yeah, all kinds, but mostly indie music, not really too into that mainstream crap….." The mystery boy replied.

"Uh huh…."

"Ummm, you OK?"

"Yeah, totally! In fact, I think you're hat is falling off."

"Oh! Haha, silly me.." he fixed his hat.

"Haha, I just have a thing for boys in fedoras and plaid…"

"Haha, Is that so?" he chuckled.

"Totally…." Emily looked at him but slowly craned her head to look around.

"Oh my gosh, they're so cute." Kaitlyn whispered.

"So uh… know whatcha' wanna order?"

"Oh! ordering, ummm… well let's see… gosh this menu is so complicated."

"How about we just split a huge burger?"

"Yeah! Wait, how do you split a burger?"

"Hmmm, not sure, I guess we'll find out?" He shrugged.

Kaitlyn moved the menu over to look at Atom.

"I wonder who he is or where the heck she found him." She had a silly smirk on her face.

"I dunno." Atom accidentally said quite loudly.

"Shhhh….." Kaitlyn put her finger up to her lips.

"Huh?" Emily turned around.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh uh, thought I heard something, haha, only 15 and i'm already losing it, just great….."

"Oh my gosh, Atom. What if he's just her cousin….." Kaitlyn slowly brought the menu back down to the table.

"Hmmm, could be…"

"She never said she had many cousins, though…." She pulled the menu back up to her face.

"...They would never work out….." She looked over her menu as she pulled it down again.

"Although I would love to be her bride's maid of honor." She covered the menu over her eyes once again.

"Well um, I guess we'll just be sitting here _waiting_ for the _waiter_ , get it, hmm? hmmm?"

Emily giggled.

"Totally not a cousin. She would never be so flustered around one of her family members." Kaitlyn whispered.

"Oh, I think i'm gonna go wash my hands, i'll be right back." Emily got up from her chair.

"Take your time!"

"Will do!"

"Hmmm. I'll be right back." Kaitlyn set her menu down on the table and got up.

"Take your time." Atom smiled.

She casually sat where Emily had just gotten up from.

"Ummm…. hello?" The boy greeted, slightly confused.

"Hi!" Kaitlyn smiled. "This is a _really_ weird coincidence. Cuz that girl you're with, Emily, is actually my best friend!. Who would have thought we'd be here at the same exact time!?"

"Yeah, just waiting for her to come out of the bathroom…"

"So how do you two know each other? Honestly I've never seen you before."

"Well uh… we had Chemistry together, who would've known!"

"So you know each other from school? Cool!"

"Yeah, she's a bit of the shy type, you should see her, doesn't talk to a living soul!"

"I know right! I try to get her to socialize as much as possible. But she seems content standing there listening." Kaitlyn shrugged.

"Yeah, really interesting…"

Emily walked out of the bathroom and headed for her table.

"Considering how long she usually takes to wash her hands, she'll be back any moment. So I'll just let you two be and have your lunch." Kaitlyn stood up.

"Yes, totally!"

She waved to the boy and walked back to her seat.

"Oh there you are! Aren't you gonna wash your hands too?" Emily asked as she sat back down.

"Nah, I have hand sanitizer in my pocket."

"So how was it?" Atom asked.

"He's a nice kid. I wouldn't worry about them two."

"Haha, that's good, speaking of good, where's the waiter?"

"Oh. He's walking over right now." Kaitlyn looked over Atom's shoulder to see the waiter approaching the table.

"Finally, feels like we've been waiting here for days…"

"Are you two ready to order?" The young man smiled at Kaitlyn and Atom.

"Mmmhmm." Kaitlyn nodded. "I'll have a rueben with chips on the side"

"Ok. And you?" The man took Kaitlyn's menu after scribbling something on his notepad and looked over at Atom.

"Ummmmmm….salad! Salad… yes, salad…"

"Dressing?"

"Oh gawd, i've never been so pressured in my life… Ranch?"

"Ranch it is." He chuckled and took Atom's menu before walking away.

"Phew." Atom let out a sigh.

Another waiter came up to Emily and the boy and ordered their food and walked away.

"Maybe you can cut it in half with a knife?" Emily suggested.

"Hmmm yeah, that seems like our best bet…."

"Oh! And your friend popped by and talked to me."

"Friend? Who?"

"Some blonde haired girl, seems you two are really close."

"Oh, really? Was it all like curly and cray looking?"

"Umm, yeah I guess, depends on what you define as 'cray'."

"No shizz man, it must be Kaitlyn, oh gosh, I hope she doesn't see us and think we're a thing, we're definitely not a thing, unless you wanna be a thing, I'm down for that too."

"Haha, don't get ahead of yourself Emily, you gotta take baby steps…"

"Right, right, what was I thinking? Ha! Getting it with a beautiful gorgeous like you is like totally impossible! Right…" Emily nervously chuckled.

"Aw. She's nervous. It's so adorable. _They're_ so adorable." Kaitlyn sighed happily and rested her head on her hand as she looked over at Emily and the boy.

."I know right?" Atom added.

The boy chuckled back.

"So uh, any plans this Summer?"

"Well, i'm visiting relatives soon, and I know that's gonna take up a huge chunk of my Summer, but other than that, I think just prepping for school, getting my social media in order and uh…."

"Being with friends?"

"Yeah that too."

Emily sighed.

"Oh Michael, if only you knew what it's like to be anti-social…."

The boy (Michael) tilted his head.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot people don't give a crap about my problems…" Emily folded her arms.

"No no, it's just surprising you say that…"

"Oh yeah because i'm talking now and I don't say a peep in school…"

"Well they do say actions speak louder than words…"

"I just hope Kaitlyn isn't eavesdropping on us, not only would it be rude, but I don't wanna give her any ideas…"

"Don't worry, she seems like a nice girl that would keep her distance."

"Yeah, but she's a huge nosy butt, I mean I'm not gonna lie, I get nosy sometimes too, but right now is not the right time for her to be sticking her head in places her head shouldn't be…."

"Oh, here, you have a little something on your face." Emily said as she handed Michael a napkin.

"Oh!" He took the napkin from her and cleaned his face.

"Can I sit up now?" Atom asked.

"Yeah." Kaitlyn replied.

"Phew! Finally…" Atom sat up in his chair again.

"Oh, is that the guy? Gosh, doesn't he know fedoras are _so_ last season?"

"They aren't that bad…. who cares if its in season or not."

"Hmmm, I guess you have a point…"

"We really should stop snooping, though."

"Mmmhmmm." Atom pulled out his phone when he felt it vibrating.

"Shiz." Atom muttered.

"If you're going to say 'shit' you gotta say it right dude."

"No no, I don't curse…"

"Who is it anyway?"

"Elefun, I got caught…."

"Just ignore it."

"I can't just ignore him, that'll make things worse!"

"He needs to learn that he can't do this kinda stuff to you."

Atom sighed.

"Well what can I do? Not like I can be Astro and just leave! I'm defenseless, i'd never hurt him or anyone regardless, I just kinda, go with the flow and do good, you know…"

"Yeah. I know. But this is just wrong. You would know that. You can't just let people push you around. It's ok to go with the flow but not when people are wronging you."

"I still don't think it's right to ignore him…."

"Well if you're not going to ignore him, then tell him how you feel."

"Hmmmmm, okay, and i'll be nice about it, the least I can do to lighten things up…."

Kaitlyn nodded

After a few moments, Atom's phone buzzed again.

Atom picked it up.

After skimming through the text, he sighed, set his phone aside and put his head down.

"Well?"

"What did I ever do to deserve such harshness…." Atom muttered.

"What did he say?"

"Y-You…. You don't wanna know…" Atom's voice cracked.

Kaitlyn furrowed her brow and picked up Atom's phone which was left on, still displaying the text message.

She looked through it.

"Wow. What an asshole." She set the phone back down.

Atom sniffled.

"Hey. It's ok."

Atom looked up at Kaitlyn with tears in his eyes and smiled.

She sighed.

Atom looked back down and tried to hold back the rest of his tears.

"I-I don't think i've ever e-encountered someone s-so cruel." he said, closing his eyes tightly.

"At least he isn't Hitler…."

"Y-you have a point…."

"And I have a little Jewish in me so that would be terrible if he was..."

"Mmmhmm." Atom nodded his head as more tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I mean Elefun probably still wants to kill me….." She thought out loud.

Atom put his head down again.

"J-just tell him i'm sorry a-and I won't d-do it again…"

"Hmm." Kaitlyn picked up the phone again and typed in a fairly lengthy reply.

Atom looked up again and grabbed a few napkins to clean his face.

He sat up and looked at Kaitlyn.

He couldn't help but smile.

Kaitlyn set his phone down on the table.

Atom grabbed it and looked over at the lengthy message

"Woah, Kaitlyn…"

"Yeah. I told him that what he was doing is child abuse and he should go to jail or hell or helljail, which is a mixture of both. And that he needs to learn to respect you and your sister whether he's too busy or not and that his family is more important than making money, which he already has plenty of."

"Oh gawd, i'm so dead….."

"At least I told him it was me who sent it."

"Well….. it was nice knowing you. And while you're at it, you can call Stephen and everyone and tell them I said 'I love you' yeah, that should be a good thing to say as my last words…."

"Atom. It'll be fine. If Elefun is a mature adult, he will understand and act upon his mistakes." Kaitlyn folded her arms.

"Then I guess he's not, because I highly doubt that."

"Yeah. I do too. Well it was worth the try. Nice seeing ya, buddy."

"Mmmmhmm." Atom sighed.

"A part of me thinks if I have the chance to leave I would, but another part me just doesn't wanna leave him at all."

"You're being manipulated by him. He makes you think like he's still a good man, even though he's been so terrible to you. That and you're too scared he'll do even worse if you do leave."

"Well not really, i'm just too nice…"

"Even nice people know when someone else is going too far."

"I know he's going too far, but I have too much good in me to do something. I just kinda, let it happen I guess…" Atom shrugged.

"Atom. It's one thing being selfless and good. But then there's self-respect and making sure _you're_ happy too."

"Well what can I do at this point anyway, I have nothing, nothing to my name, nothing to use against him, and no backup plan for when it all fails, there's no point in me picking a battle i'm not prepared for!"

"You got your friends. That's what we're here for, right? Helping each other out?"

"True…"

"We'll get you through this. I promise."

Atom sighed and nodded his head.

"I just hope things don't go too far, don't wanna get kicked out or something…"

"Even if you do, we'll still help you find somewhere to stay."

"R-really?

"Yeah. Of course!"

Atom chuckled as a few small tears streaked down his cheek.

"It's funny how the happiest people go through the most pain." He said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"I know right."

"And I thought 'nah, this couldn't happen to me' and look…"

"We can't control everything that happens to us but at least we can try and fix it, ya know?"

"Mmmhmmm." Atom nodded.

Soon after the waiter returned with Kaitlyn and Atom's food, and long moments of them eating a having a casual chit chat, after finally paying, the two of them got into Kaitlyn's car.

"So uh, we going home or do you wanna go somewhere else while we still have a chance?"

"I guess. Where do you wanna go?"

"Not sure…."

Emily and Michael walked out of the diner after paying for their lunch as well.

"So where to next?" Emily asked.

"I dunno, I was feeling more the music store, you know."

"Totes, I mean totally! Haha… that sounds nice."

"Oh Hey look, it's them again!" Atom pointed out to Kaitlyn.

"Oh yeah." Kaitlyn waved to them with hopes of them seeing her and waving back.

But the two of them were busy laughing and never even noticed her.

"Oh. Well. They didn't see me." She put her hand back down.

"Aw, that stinks…."

She let out a small sigh as they continued laughing. She looked down after the boy took Emily's hand.

"Seems like she's growing up and moving on…."

"It's not like she's going to forget us. She would never do that. We should be happy for her, anyways. I never thought she would find anybody."

"I'm not sure, she seems really into him…"

"Well that isn't exactly my main concern."

"Exactly, we need to worry about how we're gonna deal with Elefun…"

"Oh. Um yeah. That… that's what I was thinking about! Yup..." She looked up and back at Atom as she nervously chuckled.

Atom sighed.

"Kaitlyn, I'm really sorry for dragging you into this, I know you have a lot on your plate as it is trying to situate yourself… and… and I know dragging you into this is not gonna benefit you at all, but… I really do honestly appreciate your effort…" Atom let out a small smile as he looked at Kaitlyn.

"Well I actually have a lot of time on my hands. And, honestly, helping you is the best way I can spend it."

Atom chuckled again and tried hiding his few tears of somewhat joy.

"You're a really great friend, you know that… or have I been saying it too much?"

"I know. I know."

Atom tried not to chuckle, but couldn't resist.

"I just don't want you to forget how great you are and how much you mean to me, you know…"

"Don't worry. I'll never forget."

Atom smiled.

"If only I were sitting upfront i'd hug you…"

Kaitlyn smiled back. "So are we gonna go somewhere or not?"

"I'm not sure, don't really have any places in mind to visit, so maybe we should just go home and deal with the problem head first and not run away from it, I'll still have to go home anyways, no matter how you look at it _or_ approach it."

"Guess I'll just take you back home then."

"Yeah… oh! and thanks for lunch…."

"No problem."

Kaitlyn soon turned on the car and drove away to Elefun's.

Elefun was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. When he heard a car drive up he put the paper down and walked to the door.

Atom felt slightly scared.

Kaitlyn opened the car door in silence.

Atom slowly unbuckled his seatbelt.

Elefun opened the door and stood outside his house on the same steps Atom had sat on earlier.

"Good afternoon, sir." Kaitlyn said in a monotone voice and her head held high as she walked up to Elefun.

"Afternoon." Elefun replied.

Atom, slowly but surely, made his way out of the car then behind Kaitlyn.

"Atom…" Elefun began.

"I-I'm sorry." Atom muttered.

"You know what you did, and you disappointed me as well, I expected better from you, a lot better, and you let me down…"

"I'M SORRY!" Atom yelled, trying not to cry again.

"You should be, disobeying me like you did, I give you a simple task of sitting out here and what do you do, you run on me! I swear, you're becoming no better than Astro and I don't like that!"

"What did he even do to deserve this punishment?" Kaitlyn asked Elefun in the same tone but with a furrowed brow.

"I-"

"He was being an ass."

"How so?"

Elefun sighed.

"Kaitlyn, this is none of your business, this is between me and Atom, not you, I don't have time for nonsense!"

"When you wrong my friends, it becomes my business."

"Well maybe he _won't_ be your friend after today, hmm?"

"You have no say in who I am, or am not, in a relationship with."

"Well I'm cutting the line here, I see it would be better if you stepped out of the picture anyways….."

"You do not have the authority."

"Of course I don't, because I don't need authority to tell you to get the hell off my property and leave Atom alone! For good!"

"You have been abusing a minor. I can and will call the authorities on you. I have connections. I will break you. And I will not. Get the hell. Off. Your. Lawn, Old Man." She glared up at Elefun.

Atom slowly backed away as he started to cry again.

He hated arguments.

"Atom…. ATOM WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!"

"Atom. Get in my car." Kaitlyn said without moving her head, her eyes locked on Elefun's.

Atom nodded and slowly opened the door to Kaitlyn's car and crawled in.

A sound of a window opening was heard.

"HEY CAN YOU GUYS KEEP IT DOWN, LADY TRYING TO NAP HERE?!" It sounded like Uran yelling from her room.

"Uran. I suggest you close your window and keep your yap shut." Kaitlyn glanced up for a moment.

"WELL I'M TRYING TO SLEEP AND ALL I HEAR IS AN OLD FART YELLING LIKE A CRAZY MAN AND A LADY YELLING BACK LIKE SHE KNOWS THE STATE CONSTITUTION LIKE THE BACK OF HER HAND!"

"Don't be ignorant, Uran."

"I'M JUST BEING HONEST, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS YOU GUYS TILL NOW, I SWEAR I THOUGHT IT WAS THE NEIGHBORS!"

"Go back inside, please."

"FINE." Uran closed her window.

Elefun sighed.

Kaitlyn looked back at him and clenched her fists.

Elefun turned around.

"You're lucky i'm not armed…" He crossed his arms.

"Either way, you're still a coward."

"I understand…"

"So you're just going to walk away? What about Atom? Are you just going to give him away? Let him leave like Astro?"

"Well, if he keeps heading the way he is, he'll become useless, just another waste of time that's a pain in my ass, so if he wants to rebel and disobey me….. then he's gonna have to take it out somewhere else, because i'm definitely not gonna be dealing with his bullshit."

"Atom is not your slave. He is not an object you can move to your disposal. Nor is he rebelling. You put this harsh punishment upon him and he was starving and sitting in the blazing sun. An all for what? Him maybe back talking you? Maybe He didn't do something exactly when you wanted? He's been following your orders since the day he was born. He may be a robot, but he has a heart and a mind all his own. He has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known and he would never intentionally do bad. So one time he slips and you think it's ok to throw him outside like a dog? I will not allow you, nor anyone else to do such a thing to this innocent being, let alone anyone. Would you treat your own child this way? He is your child. You are his guardian and you should act like the loving parent you're supposed to be. You've gone too far this time."

"And what _are_ you gonna do about it, you may have finished school, but according to the law, you're still a minor!"

"Yeah. Because I'm planning on coming back here on August 7th to flash my birth certificate in you're face to say that I can do something. No. It doesn't take age to measure maturity."

Elefun headed for the door.

"When he's ready, he can come back." Elefun slammed the door.

Kaitlyn clenched her fists tighter.

Atom sat in the backseat of Kaitlyn's car and rubbed his eye.

"eeeerrrrrAAAAGGHHH! GET BACK OUT HERE SO I CAN BEAT YOUR ASS YOU WRINKLY OLD BASTARD."

She began to kick at one of the columns of the porch.

"LOOK AT THAT YOU MADE ME LOSE MY TEMPER. YOU BROKE ME ARE YOU HAPPY?!"

Elefun ignored her and kept on reading his newspaper.

"I OUGHTA COME IN THERE AND KICK YOUR ASS. BUT I KNOW BETTER. I KNOW BETTER THAN LEAVING A 13 YEAR OLD BOY OUT ON THE FRONT STEPS LIKE A POTTED PLANT. HMM. IS THAT WHAT HE IS TO YOU?! AN UNWANTED DYING LITTLE PLANT THAT HAS NO HOPES OF BLOOMING!?" She kicked the door.

"YOU'RE A COWARDICE JACKASS THAT ONLY CARES ABOUT HIMSELF. I BET YOU KNOW THAT AND IT MAKES YOU HAPPY, DOESN'T IT?"

"WELL IM NOT GETTING OFF YOUR BACK AND I'M NOT LETTING ATOM BACK IN UNTIL YOU ACT LIKE A PROPER ADULT AND TALK THIS OUT INSTEAD OF HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE LIKE THE SCARED LITTLE ASSHOLE YOU ARE."

Atom sighed and got out of the car.

"Kaitlyn…. t-there's no use!" Atom sluggish;y made his way to her, he sounded a bit weary.

"No! You're not going in there!" Her voice turned from angry to distressed as she blocked the door.

"I-I have to, there's no other choice left for me, I was just meant to suffer…" Now Atom sounded even more weary, like he was far beyond tired.

"No! No you weren't!" A tear fell down her cheek. "I'm not letting you do this! I won't let you hurt yourself for this! I can't let you harm yourself for others!"

Atom got closer to her and put his arms sound her.

"I love you." He whispered as he closed his eyes, falling asleep.

"Please don't go in there. Don't be like me..." She whispered.

Atom snored.

She put her arms around him and slowly dropped to the ground with him in her arms.

"What do I do?" She cried.

((END OF CHAPTER TWO!)


	3. This Summer's Gonna Hurt

_"She wants it all , s_ _he's always taking something, a_ _nd now I'm left with nothing"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Three: This Summer's Gonna Hurt

While still wrapped up in Kaitlyn's arms, her and Atom were on the ground holding one another, even though Atom had clocked out.

"D-don't hurt her…." Atom mumbled.

Kaitlyn tried to stop crying and was constantly drying her tears with her free hand.

"I SAID DON't hurt her…." Atom mumbled again.

"Atom... Wake up..." She shook his shoulder.

"No please, don't touch her!" Atom held onto Kaitlyn tighter.

"Atom."

Tears streamed down his face.

"I'm sorry, I tried to save you…" Atom mumbled yet again in his sleep.

Kaitlyn held him in her arms as she stood up and walked back over to her car. She sat him down in the passenger seat then walked over to the driver's side and got in the car.

Atom rubbed his eye and snored.

Kaitlyn looked over at him and sighed. "I'm not letting you back in there."

Atom struggled to find a good sleeping position until finally just settling with bringing his knees up to his chest and leaning his head on the window.

"I need to get out of here..." Kaitlyn thought. She started it up and drove out of the driveway with no destination.

Finally after driving for a while, Atom slowly woke up and was shocked for a moment to be in the passenger's seat while Kaitlyn was driving.

"K-Kaitlyn…. where are we going?"

"I don't know..."

"Gosh, I had the weirdest dream…."

"What was your dream about?"

"I-I don't know, I was yelling a lot, that's for sure, but why I was I have no idea…"

"You were yelling in your sleep."

"Oh…. I'm sorry you had to hear that…"

"It's alright." She sighed.

Atom let out a slight chuckle.

"This is the first time i've ever sat in the front seat…" he said.

She looked over and smiled at him.

"Kinda scary, but I think i'll survive."

She turned her head back around and stared at the road.

"Any idea on where you wanna go?" Atom asked.

She shook her head.

"Well we could always go to wherever it is you live, or back downtown…"

She shook her head again.

"Well then what's the point in driving if you don't even know where the heck you're going?"

She didn't respond and just kept her eyes on the road..

Atom sighed.

After another long while of Kaitlyn driving, Atom decided to put on the radio.

He finally decided on the MPR station and leaned back in his seat.

"Nothing like public radio to brighten the mood…"

Kaitlyn nodded in silence.

Eventually she pulled into a parking lot at a stripmall.

Atom had been looking out the window the whole time.

"I've never felt so lost in my entire life." Kaitlyn let out in a whisper.

Atom looked over at her and unbuckled his seatbelt so he could get closer to her.

"It's OK." he whispered back.

She looked down at her hands as they slowly let go of the steering wheel and fell to her lap.

Atom tried to lean his head on her shoulder.

She closed her eyes for a moment before looking around outside the window.

"Thank you." Atom whispered.

She nodded.

Atom put an arm around her.

"What are we gonna do?" She asked, still looking out the window.

"I'm not sure…."

She tensed up and clenched her hands into fists.

Atom looked up at her.

"We have no where to go, and there's not much we can do to stop this, he's never gonna change and there's nothing we can do to convince him to."

She put her head down and tried her best not to cry. But a single tear fell down onto her leg. She covered her face with her hands.

Atom slowly brought a hand to her back and rubbed it gently.

"It's alright Kaitlyn, don't be sad, it'll be OK…" He said in an attempt to soothe her.

"You-you don't underst-stand." Her voice hiccuped as she sobbed harder.

"Ssssh, don't cry. Don't cry."

She sniffled. "How am I supposed to _not_ cry when everything I do fails miserably."

Atom sighed and rested his head on top of her's.

"I just can't do anything right. I try to make everything the way it's supposed to be and I try to make everyone happy. Do they want to be happy? No. It doesn't seem so BECAUSE THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. AM I THE ONLY TRYING TO FIX ALL OF THIS?!"

Atom was about to speak, but kept quiet.

Kaitlyn took a moment to calm down.

"I give up."

"Trust me, I gave up a long time ago…."

"I'm just going to take you home. That is what you want, right? To go home no matter what may happen to you?"

"I-I-"

"Well? What do _you_ want to do? I'm done deciding for everyone else."

"I-I don't know…"

"Then we'll just sit in this car forever."

Atom let go of Kaitlyn and sat back down in his seat, not saying a word.

She crossed her arms and sniffled again.

"What has my life become?" Atom muttered in a annoyed tone.

"I know, right?"

"I can see now why Astro would want out of all of this…."

Kaitlyn sighed. "If only there was something to do about it..."

"It'd be a miracle if there was…"

"There's no way that there is. We just have to face the facts and get on with our lives. What happens happens."

"Right."

"Let's just go back home so you can drop me off and I can get eaten by the old man and die…"

"I'm sure whatever he does to you can't be that bad. He must've forgotten about it by now..."

"Well I know for sure he's not letting you see me again…"

"I'll still figure out a way to see you."

Atom sighed.

"What's the point anymore, I mean really, there is no point, people these days care about no one, they couldn't give two craps even if they wanted to! I could be here today and gone tomorrow and no one would even notice, I could scream to the world the truth and i'll i'd get is crickets and a few homophobes throwing rocks at me!"

"I'm trying my best to change that..." She whispered to herself.

"There's no use in any of us trying anything anymore, we're just gonna end up dead, in trouble, or stuck somewhere down the line… it's just not worth it anymore…."

"I really do wanna give up... But for me it's harder than you think..."

"I don't know anymore. I wish I could un-see everything I've seen and start all over again."

"Same."

"Maybe i'll ask for that when I get home…"

"I don't know if that's the best idea."

"Maybe it is, i'll forget everything and go move somewhere else, away from all these nasty people and bull crap…"

She looked down again.

"And if they care, they'll come looking for me and bring me home, and if they don't, i'll be gone for a while…"

"Don't go pulling an Astro."

"Well he has his reasons, and I have mine…"

"It's still really dumb to do that."

"And how would _you_ know?"

"Because it was dumb when Astro did it. And I'm not going on another wild goose chase looking for another one of my friends

"WELL MAYBE I'LL JUST DIE INSTEAD?!"

"No. You won't."

Atom didn't say anything but turn his back on Kaitlyn and leaned on his seat, holding back tears.

"You know better than to do something like that. You're smarter. I know you could do it. But I know you wouldn't."

He sighed and almost reached his hand for the door handle.

Kaitlyn saw him and locked the doors.

Tears streamed down Atom's face as he almost let out a small scream.

"I'll protect you no matter what." Kaitlyn said in a soft, almost inaudible voice. "I'd never let anything bad happen to the people I care for."

"I've never in my life felt this much pain…"

"It's ok, Atom." Kaitlyn reached her arm over and began to rub his back.

Atom hiccuped and brought his knees up to his chest.

"Let's just go back to my house. It's nice and quiet there and we can go get a snack."

"Mmmhmmm." Atom nodded.

Kaitlyn gave him a smile then started up the car again.

"Gosh, you must really think i'm a crybaby with all the times i got upset today…"

"No. You're just letting out your feelings and there's nothing wrong with that."

"You have a point, I guess i'm just a little insecure…"

"Aren't we all?"

"I guess." Atom shrugged.

Kaitlyn drove out of the parking lot and towards her house.

Atom zoned out for a little bit right before Kaitlyn pulled into the driveway of her house.

She parked the car and got out.

Atom yawned and relaxed his shoulders a bit.

She leaned down and stuck her head into the car.

"Atom?"

Atom still sat there with his eyes closed continuing his nap.

She reached over and shook his shoulder.

"Hmmm?" Atom slowly woke up and spoke in a sleepy voice as he turned around to look at Kaitlyn.

"We're here. Get out."

"O-oh, okay." He rubbed his eye as he nodded and then unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his door, and got out of the car.

Kaitlyn closed the car door and walked up to the front door, opening it with the set of keys in her hand.

"Woah, so this is where you live? This is a nice house…" Atom commented.

"Thanks." She walked into the home and took off her shoes. She set them aside.

Atom chuckled and followed close behind her.

She sat down on the couch.

Atom sat down next to her.

She silently picked up the TV remote next to her and turned something on, then turning the volume down a little.

Atom leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes yet again for another time.

She leaned her head back and tried to take a nap.

Atom put his hands on his lap as time went on and an hour had passed.

When he woke up, he looked over at Kaitlyn and saw that she was still sleeping, he checked his phone for the time and saw it was getting close to dinner.

Atom carefully got close to Kaitlyn and gently removed her glasses, setting them aside on the coffee table.

"Must be uncomfortable sleeping with glasses." he muttered.

She squirmed a little then changed the way she was sitting before settling back down again.

Atom sighed and couldn't help but smile when he looked back at her.

He grabbed hold of the TV remote and changed the channel, after going through a whole list of channels, he settled on one of them and got comfortable on the couch again.

Kaitlyn eventually brought her knees up to her chest.

Atom looked over at her with an almost look of concern before scooting closer to her and gently playing around with the ends of her hair.

Atom soon sighed.

"You know one time someone told me i'd make a great singer and I laughed so hard my face turned red and I almost couldn't breathe." He chuckled.

"It's funnier because that someone was Stephen, right?" Atom looked over at her.

"Oh, you're still sleeping, nevermind…"

"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world,she took the midnight train goin' anywhere…." He began to sing softly.

"Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train goin' anywhere…."

"A singer in a smokey room, the smell of wine and cheap perfume, For a smile they can share the night, It goes on and on and on and on!"

"Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard, their shadows searching

In the night!" Atom started singing louder.

"STREETLIGHT PEOPLE, LIVIN' JUST TO FIND EMOTION, HIDIN' SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGGGHHHHHTTTT!" His voice had gotten drastically louder than before.

Kaitlyn slowly turned her head over as Atom kept singing and nearly stood up.

"WORKIN' HARD TO GET MY FILL, EVERYBODY WANTS A THRILL. PAYIN' ANYTHING TO ROLL THE DICE JUST ONE MORE TI-"

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Atom stopped singing and slowly turned around.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can explain…."

She stared at him for a moment.

Atom slowly began to blush.

"Stephen was right. You're really good at that."

"Wait, you heard that?"

"A little."

"Oh." Atom sat back down on the couch.

"Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues." Kaitlyn mumbled as she reached over for the remote.

She sat back again and hummed some more of the tune as she turned the volume up a few clicks.

Atom chuckled.

"Hope my uncle didn't hear you. Don't want him thinking all my friends think they're in a musical…."

"Haha, wouldn't that be cray cray…"

"Don't worry, though. He's always got his noise canceling headphones on so nothing interrupts his _precious_ 'Dragons and Dungeons' or whatever game he plays in his room all the time." Kaitlyn said in an almost mocking tone.

"But that _would_ be a good idea..." She thought out loud.

"Pffft, a musical, what would we call it thought?"

"I have no idea but it would be amazing. I've really needed an excuse to use my hidden acting skills."

"Same, I need more time to show off my talent…"

Kaitlyn suddenly stood up.

"LET'S DO A MUSICAL!" She turned around to atom.

"Ummmmm"

"Yeah. No that's a terrible idea." She sat back down.

Atom chuckled, he then suddenly had a surprised look on his face when he realized something.

Kaitlyn looked at him.

"I never told you, did I?"

"What? ARE YOU DYING?!"

"No no, i'm not dying, at least I hope i'm not, but….. I'm going to highschool!"

"WOAH! Really?!"

"Yeah, Elefun's finally letting me go to school!"

"Guess the guy isn't that terrible… although he could just be trying to get you off his back…."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking….."

"At least you wont have to be around him 24/7 anymore."

"Yeah, I guess it works out in the end, I guess i'm just kinda nervous because i've ever gone to school before and I know this is gonna be a really different playground and experience for me…"

"Just be yourself and ignore the haters."

Atom nodded.

"Not only that, but I'm probably gonna have to spend my out-of-pocket money on the things i'm gonna need, gosh if only going to school or just school shopping wasn't so complex and complicated."

"I'll help you."

"Really? I mean, no no, you don't have to…"

"Pft. I love school shopping. Ahhh. So many cool folders."

"Haha yeah, and all the fun colors, hehe."

"Your school has lockers, right?"

"Not sure, i've never been to it before…"

"Well there's lots of cool stuff you can get for lockers too."

"Really? That's cool."

There was a short moment of silence.

Atom sighed again.

"D-do you think i'm clingy?" he asked in a slightly sad tone.

"No. Not at all."

"Because I mean, I dunno, sometimes I guess I get really self conscious when I speak to people and it really bothers me because I don't want to send out the wrong message to people about me or come out as clingy or an attention whore, but sometimes I feel I do come out that way to people and there's nothing I can do to fix it, and I think honestly that's truly what brings me down." ((Woah Atom, woah. ~Emily))

Kaitlyn blinked and thought of what to say in response.

"I know you can't help but feel that. But you really aren't any of those things."

"If only it were _that_ easy to convince myself."

There was another long pause.

"Kaitlyn I'm sorry for anything I've ever done for the years I've known you, and I really hope you don't leave me behind because of something I do or because I come off to you as someone that's clingy or annoying or just wanting attention, you know?"

"Atom. I love you like a brother. You never did anything. You don't have to be sorry. And I promise I'll never leave you behind." She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

Atom looked up at her as tears streamed down his face.

"Oh, there I go again." He said as he wiped the tears off his face.

Kaitlyn chuckled and put her arms around Atom for a hug.

He smiled as he wiped more tears from his wet face.

"I love you so much Kaitlyn, you're a real inspiration and you really mean a lot to me with your care and words of wisdom to give me the will to go on."

She smiled again and hugged him tighter.

More tears poured down his face as he sniffled and let out a small cry.

She gently rubbed his back.

Atom wiped more of the tears as he sniffled and tried to smile.

He then sighed.

"Ugh, my face must be all cruddy right now..."

Kaitlyn chuckled again and let of Atom.

"If you need to use the bathroom to wash your face, I can show you where it is."

"Yeah, don't wanna scare people with my horrendous looks..."

Kaitlyn stood up.

Atom tried not to touch his face even though he had quite an urge to, he got up along with Kaitlyn and walked to the bathroom.

She opened the door for him

Atom looked at her for a moment before walking in.

She walked back over to the living room and sat on the couch.

After finally cleaning his face up, Atom looked at himself in the mirror and kept making faces and checking the appearance of his teeth.

"Geez, I seriously need to start brushing again…." he complained as he looked at the tint of yellow on his teeth.

"Oh well, nothing like starting the day with improper hygiene, or is it _proper_ hygiene? I give up on quotes today…"

Atom walked out of the bathroom and sat next to Kaitlyn again on the couch in the living room.

"Hi." She looked over at him.

"Hi!" Atom waved at her.

"Why are you waving? You're right next to me."

"Oh uh, nothing, it's just, nothing!"

She chuckled.

"Gosh. Where is this plot going?" Kaitlyn leaned back and rested her hands behind her head. ((She knows too much. she's becoming aware. Breaking the fourth wall ~Kait)) ((CORRECTION! Astro knew before she did, he even talked about it to Tenma, even though he thought he was talking BS cray cray ish, he still knew it…. ~Emily)) ((She knows way more tho. She's not just imagining, she knows. We gotta kill her off before the end of the series so she doesn't fuck anything up. ~Kait)) ((Well don't tell the readers that, it's pretty much spoiling it for them…. ~Emily)) ((oh darn. we can't kill her then. YOUR PRECIOUS KAITLYN IS IMMORTAL NOW. YOU HAPPY READERS?! ~Kait)) ((I'm sure they are….. ~Emily)) ((I wonder if I'm anyone's favorite character? ~Kait)) ((HAHAHAHAHA, we all know it's Atom, not you Kait, geez…. ~Emily)) ((Pft. what do _you_ know? ~Kait)) ((Everything, lol jk jk, haha ~Emily)) ((Pft wow ~Kait))

"What do you mean?" Atom asked.

"Oh. Nothing." She shrugged.

"Hmmmm, cool." Atom smiled as he moved back and forth while sitting on the couch, acting in an almost playful mood.

"So when do you plan on going home?"

"Oh, i'm not sure yet, i'll have to think….."

"Maybe sneak in when the old man is asleep."

"Maybe, but i'm too clumsy and loud for that…."

"Hmm. You could just face him and see what happens next."

"Hmmmm, I could….."

"Yeah. I could try and reason with him but that probably won't work out."

"Don't worry Kaitlyn, just give me 2 hours to ball my eyes out and another 2 hours to boost my self esteem and I think i'll have _just_ enough courage to face him head on."

"Hmmm."

Atom suddenly bursted out laughing for a moment.

Kaitlyn looked over at him, confused.

Atom looked back at her. "What?"

"Why are you laughing?"

"Uhhhh, I dunno. I'm secretly crazy and hyper?"

"Haha. Same."

"Yeah!"

Kaitlyn laughed a little.

"Or it could be my reaction to my sadness…."

"Maybe."

"Because it's kinda weird how when i'm sad I always suddenly become like really happy and hyper! And like _crazy_! And i'm not sure why…."

"You don't think there might be something wrong or like some weird explanation in a foreign language or like something just plain weird, do you?"

"Sounds like…. I dunno a mental illness maybe?" She looked around the room.

Atom gasped and looked at Kaitlyn, slightly terrified.

"But that's not what you think… I mean you're not insane. That's obvious."

"I-I know…"

"It sounds like you have anxiety."

"Oh… what's that?" ((I thought it would be better if Atom like at first didn't know what anxiety was, not really for it to be like cute or make him look stupid, but to add on to the fact he's like oblivious to the problems he has and the problems around him, he just goes about life like everything's ok, and this would emphasize that….. ~Emily))

"Well you know how you're scared and nervous a lot?"

"Ummm, yeah, sometimes…. especially when I talk to people…."

"That's because…. oh wait you're a robot so it might be different…. well. it's when chemicals inside someone's head aren't at the right levels so it makes them feel a certain way without wanting to. I guess it's the same concept for you even though you have different stuff in your head."

"Uh huh." Atom nodded.

"Its the same for people with depression and bipolar disorder. And other mood disorders. It's a lot of neurological sciency stuff."

"Oh…. I see…."

"Unfortunately, it's incurable."

Atom sighed.

"I know. Sucks hearing it, doesn't it?"

He quietly nodded with closed eyes.

She gave him a small pat on the back.

"I know what you're going through. And knowing who you are, I'm sure you'll make it through it."

Atom looked at her and chuckled.

She smiled at him.

"You know, sometimes I think too much, and sometimes I worry a lot, and sometimes I have no idea what i'm doing, and then there's other times where I do know what i'm doing, but I'm not thinking too much, and i'm not worrying too much. But then, ummmm…. well…."

Atom sighed.

"How can you think too much, how can you worry too much and still have no idea what you're doing? And I think the answer to that is that even though you worry and even though you put in a lot of effort or thought into something, in the end, sometimes we go through such a cruel journey, we forget the destination. And we forget how much worth it has, as opposed to knowing what you're doing. Because when you know the outcome or you know the destination, you seem to kinda wanna, I dunno, get to it quicker! But then you're not as happy because you never got to see how far you came, you just jumped from one place to another. And the thrill is lost. So I think it's better to worry too much, and it's better to think too much and not know what you're doing, even if you forget why you're even doing it, because it's the journey that brings you to your destination, not the other way around."

"Woah, someone should put that on a t-shirt! Oh wait, that might not fit though, dangit."

"Wow." Kaitlyn looked stunned.

"And I could go on and on for hours, but i'm sure I would only bore you to death and I would never wanna harm someone like that…."

"Hahahahaha. You can't actually become bored to death. At least I'm pretty sure you can't... I did have a Sim die of embarrassment once..."

"Aw poor sim…. wait, what's a sim?"

"Did you ever hear of The Simz? It's a game where you can make a little family and build them a house and have them do all kinds of stuff."

"Oh, that sounds kinda cool, if only I had time for it…."

"Oooooooo." Kaitlyn held her index finger up. "I'll be right back."

She got up and left the room.

"Haha, alright, take your time!"

She came running back in with a laptop in her arms.

"We can play it right now!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" She opened the laptop and turned it on.

Atom got closer to Kaitlyn and looked over her shoulder.

After opening up the game, Kaitlyn looked over at Atom.

"Do you wanna start a new game or play one of the families I already made?"

"Hmmmmm, kind of a hard decision…."

After a few hours of laughs and giggles, and maybe a few slightly best friendy moments went on, it was getting late and Atom was on the floor, staring at the ceiling and yawning with a sleepy look on his face while Kaitlyn was munching on the final bits of a sandwich she made not too long ago.

"You're looking pretty sleep there." She looked down at Atom.

"Hmmmm wha, me? Noooo, I could stay up for _hours_." Atom said before yawning.

" _Suuuure_."

"Mmmmhmmm, if you can dream it, you can do it!" ((Atom pls tune it down wit da inspirational quotes ~Emily))

"Well if you fall asleep on my carpet, I'm gonna leave you there."

"Haha, that's OK, this carpet is actually quite comfy."

Kaitlyn chuckled.

"Well you need to go home eventually."

"I know…."

"Well when is that gonna be, then? You can't stay here all night."

"I know…."

Kaitlyn looked at the clock.

"It's like 7 now."

"Uh huh."

"In one more hour I'll take you back home."

Atom nodded and turned to his side.

"I wonder if horses are just unicorns without their horn-stick, thingy….."

"Well I guess they would be magical horses…. unless they lose their magic with their horn."

"I had a dream once I was abducted by unicorns, it was really scary…"

"Oh. Well I guess evil unicorns can be a thing."

"But I don't want it to be a thing, trust me when I tell you….. It. Was. Scary!"

"Ok then. Evil unicorns shouldn't exist."

"Exactly, we should ward them off with pixie dust!" Atom giggled.

Kaitlyn laughed.

"And then once we ward them all off we can throw a pizza party!"

"Yeah! Too bad unicorns actually don't exist."

"They don't?!" Atom sounded shocked.

"Uh. Yeah."

"Wow, i've been lied to my whole life! Whaaaa?!"

"No one told you mythical creatures don't exist?"

"No…."

"Wow."

"Why, was someone supposed to tell me?"

"I guess."

"Wow… that's kinda sad.."

"I know, right?"

Atom sighed.

"I know what i'm gonna tell him." He said.

"What?"

"Oh, uh, nothing….."

"No. Tell me."

"No, it's nothing."

"Fine."

A little more time passed and 8 o'clock rolled around.

Atom was back on the couch when Kaitlyn walked back into the living room.

"Ok. It's 8. Time to go."

"Oh, alright." Atom got up from the couch and followed Kaitlyn out of the house and to her car.

After a short drive, they arrived back at Elefun's house.

When Kaitlyn finally pulled into the driveway, Atom had already unbuckled his seatbelt and prepared to get out of the car.

"Want me to go up there with you?" Kaitlyn reached for the buckle of her seatbelt.

"No, but stay here incase I need backup."

"Ok."

Atom got out of the car and walked to the door.

He knocked on it and after waiting a few minutes, Elefun answered the door.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I came here to apologize for my mistakes."

"Oh really?"

"Professor, i'm sorry for being a pain in your ass and i'm sorry for mocking you and yelling on and on about how terrible and unfair you can be at times. And i'm sorry you took it the wrong way and I now know you shouldn't say anything mean to someone even if they deserve to hear it or need to hear it to wake them up and have them smell the roses, it's better to leave them blind and have them smell the roses on their own terms, no one should be forced to do anything they're not OK with, ever. And I'm sorry I walked out on you and disobeyed your clear instructions you gave me, I should have known better than to be no better than Astro and rebel against you, It's a mistake I'll never forget till the day I get old and pass away, and I sure will not forget how you felt when I did make that mistake. Now i'd like to go back inside and take a shower because I reek of sweat and trash, if you would look past this and let me in."

"Hmph." Elefun folded his arms and moved out of the way so Atom could walk in.

Atom looked back at Kaitlyn and went to raise his hand so he could wave goodbye to her, but he was shoved inside by Elefun.

((END OF CHAPTER THREE!))


	4. Whistle for the Choir

**_(AN: I had to bump up the rating for this fan fiction due to the cursing in this chapter, just as a little precaution and warning to you guys about what you're about to read, that's all ~Emily)_**

* * *

 _"And I must confess, my heart's in broken pieces a_ _nd my head's a mess ._ _And it's 4 in the morning, and I'm walking along, b_ _eside the ghost of every drinker here who has ever done wrong"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Four: Whistle for the Choir

After a few boring days had passed, Kaitlyn had felt it was time to go visit Atom and check up on him again. Sitting around her house all day had started to become too annoying.

After driving for a while, she pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, making her way to the door.

"If you're looking for him, he's dead." said a note left by the door.

"Naw, this can't be true. He's an asshole but not that much of one. The bastard wouldn't kill him. He'd kill me. Not Atom" Kaitlyn thought.

She knocked on the door. There was no response so she knocked again.

No one answered.

"COME ON ELEFUN. DON'T DO THIS. WEREN'T WE FRIENDS BEFORE?"

She sighed and walked over to the side of the house. You could tell it was an added on part of the house and wasn't there originally.

Kaitlyn walked over to the window there and tapped on the glass.

Atom was in his room sitting at his desk reading a book.

He looked up, after seeing a silhouette of what looked similar to Kaitlyn, he ignored it and went back to reading, although he had a look and feeling of regret plastered on his face.

After many attempts of trying to grab Atoms attention, she tried to call him

But Atom didn't answer.

He felt bad having to ignore her, but Elefun's rules were Elefun's rules, and Atom didn't wanna break them any longer.

"Fuck this shit. I'm very much against this, but im gonna break and enter." Kaitlyn thought again.

She tried to figure out a way in get herself, she soon realized that she could go through the back door.

After finally thinking her whole plan out Kaitlyn snuck in through the back door, she saw Elefun was watching yet another soap opera again, desperately trying to get passed him quietly, she made small quiet steps till she made it to the extension of the house which was connected to the main part of the house by a hallway she went down. Finally then she got to Atom's room and knocked lightly on the door.

Atoms was sitting in the corner of his room, holding his knees and staring at the wall.

Kaitlyn knocked again

"C-come in." Atom whispered, assuming it was Elefun at the door.

Kaitlyn opened the door

Atom rubbed his eye. "I'm not suppose talk to you, you better leave or we'll both be dead." He whispered.

"I don't care. If we die, we die together." She walked up to him.

"Just go, I don't want to jepordise the both of us, i'd rather play it safe and stay in here, slowly freaking out…"

"You can't do this. It's not healthy for you. You can't let him hold you back like this."

"Maybe I will let him kill me, I'm losing it anyways, no one wants a crazy person, we already have astro, and look at him, he's a mess."

"Atom dont say that. You're not crazy."

"Well I sure do act like I'm one…."

"But you're not. You're just scared. And confused. And that's OK. But you can't let it take you over. You can't let that keep you from doing what you think is right."

His hands began to shake and tears rolled down his cheeks.

Kaitlyn leaned down and hugged him.

"Tell me…. tell me Kaitlyn, _what have I become_?!"

"You're slowly becoming one of the strongest people I know. You're not there yet but you're getting there and if you keep trying and listen to your heart, you'll be there.

"You've become an amazing friend who has their problems and their downfalls but you still get up and pull through it."

Atom blinked, speechless.

"You're not a monster. You're not crazy. You're just misunderstood and abused." She whispered into his ear.

Footsteps could be heard down the hallway at the end of the hallway.

Elefun took a look down it. Something seemed off to him. He began to walk down to Atom's room.

Kaitlyn looked up for a moment.

"Dry off your face and act normal." She whispered to Atom as she stood up and quickly hid in the closet.

Atom wiped his face with his sleeve and picked up a nearby book. He sat back at his desk.

"You ok in here?" Elefun opened the door and looked in.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Atom turned his head back slightly towards Elefun, but not so he could see his red face.

"Okay." Elefun closed the door and walked upstairs. to his office.

"Wow. That was a close one." Kaitlyn opened the door to the closet and squeezed out. "Gosh, how many containers do you have in here?"

Atom laid the book down, brought his knees up to his chest and put his head down.

He still didn't feel like talking to her, in fear of getting in serious trouble.

She sighed and looked away

"P-please just go, I don't wanna get in trouble anymore, I'm sorry, but I just can't have you around anymore." Atom whispered.

"But we're best friends. We'll find a way around this."

"But I can't risk it Kaitlyn, and it really really… it… it really hurts me to tell you this because I don't wanna p-push you away!" Atom cried even more tears as he struggled to finish his sentence.

He got up and walked over to his bed where he crawled in and engulfed himself in a ton of bedsheets and pillows.

"Atom… come on. Just tell me you'll try and work all this out. I'll help you, even."

"I wish I could, but I can't and I won't! And I never will because you can't fight a battle you know you can't win!"

"But it doesn't hurt to try!"

"I'M NOT GONNA DO IT OKAY?!"

Kaitlyn took a step back.

"I'M NOT GONNA PUT MYSELF OR ANYONE ELSE IN ANYMORE DANGER, I'VE ALREADY DONE MY TIME AND I WISH NOT TO DO TIME ANYMORE, SO I'M NOT GONNA DO IT, I'M JUST GONNA LET PEOPLE PUSH ME AROUND IF IT KEEPS ME HERE IN A STATE OF MIND I CAN'T ESCAPE! NOW JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND GO BACK HOME SO YOU CAN GO ON AND ON ABOUT YOU AND ALL THE THINGS YOU PLAN ON DOING WITH BRANDON WHILE I SIT HERE AND ENJOY SUFFERING AND BEING THE MONSTER I AM!"

"Atom…."

"YOU HEARD ME!"

"F-FINE!" Tears began to form in her eyes. "IF YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YOU ALONE I WILL. MAYBE ILL JUST GO BACK TO PENNSYLVANIA ON MY OWN. MAYBE I'LL STOP CARING ABOUT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE AND JUST DIE." She took a few steps back towards the door.

"FINE, AT LEAST THEN I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOU ANYMORE!"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ME! YOU NEVER NEEDED TO! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF."

"GREAT, THEN YOU CAN BE ON YOUR WAY!"

Kaitlyn stormed out the door and slammed it on her way out. She walked back out through the back door and to her car where she started it up and drove back home.

Atom sat there and felt bad for yelling and being extremely mean to Kaitlyn, but he knew it'd be the only way she would take him seriously.

He sighed and got out of bed, leaving his room and going into the kitchen for a snack.

A few days had gone by and things never did get better, Atom had officially isolated himself from everyone he knew and did nothing but stay in his room the whole time, day and night, he never dared to touch the doorknob.

Kaitlyn spiraled downhill again and constantly told herself no one cared about her as she hid from the world in her dimly lit bedroom. Her medicine sat in a bottle on the end of her dresser, untouched for days as she felt no need for it. Her phone turned off besides it.

Nothing seemed to be OK.

Atom still felt bad for what he said to Kaitlyn, but he constantly shrugged it off and consumed himself in reading and sleeping, ignoring any needs he may have had.

Eventually a week had passed, Elefun decided to take a trip to Atom's room to check up on him.

But when he walked in, Atom was lying on the floor as if he had passed out a while ago, not only did he look gross and terrible, but it showed in his smell as well.

"Atom?" Elefun got closer to him and crouched down on the ground beside him.

"Looks like he worked himself out…." Elefun got up.

"I'll fix him later." He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

There was a knock on Kaitlyn's door. She cringed at the noise and dug her head further underneath her pillow.

The door opened and her aunt came in carrying a plate of food and a glass of soda. She looked over at the plate she had brought in around lunch time. There was still an uneaten sandwich laying on it.

"Kaitlyn?" She looked at the lump of sheets and pillows on the bed.

Kaitlyn clenched her fists and she clinged onto the pillow on top of her head.

Her aunt put the plate down besides the other one and pulled the pillow off of her head to reveal a head of slightly matted hair.

Kaitlyn tried reaching for the pillow and when she couldn't find it she pulled another from next to her with a grunt.

Before she could flop it over her head, her aunt grabbed it and pulled it away.

She sighed and slowly pushed herself up and turned around so she could sit up on the bed. She brought her knees up to her chest.

Kaitlyn's aunt put the pillows behind her and sat next to her on the bed. She patted her back gently.

"I know things happen and you get sad. But this is the worst I've seen you. What happened?"

Kaitlyn shook her head, refusing to tell.

"You're still not going to tell me, hmm?"

Kaitlyn looked away and turned the back of her head to her aunt.

She looked over at the dresser after being shut out by Kaitlyn and picked up the pill bottle. She opened it and shook it around.

"It's still as full as it was two weeks ago." She looked back over at her niece.

"You know you're supposed to take your depression medicine..."

Kaitlyn looked down at the ground and tensed her shoulders.

Her aunt sighed.

"Is it because you don't like taking it dry? I brought you a drink."

"No..." Kaitlyn whispered.

"You could at least try eating something today."

Kaitlyn shook her head again.

"This isn't healthy for you. You know that…. This isn't like you at all."

Kaitlyn turned her head to her aunt. Her eyes were glassy and had dark bags underneath them from sleeping too much.

Her aunt pushed a piece of hair out of her face.

"Just take your medicine please. It'll make you feel better."

"What's the point?" Kaitlyn let out in a gravely voice.

"The point is that whatever happened to you, no matter how bad, it's no reason for you to be so stubborn. It's one thing to be sad, then there's hurting yourself."

"Who cares anyway?" Kaitlyn turned her head back over.

"I care."

"Aunt Diane…. Just….."

"Just what?"

"Nothing. Nevermind."

"Hmmm. Just promise me you'll eat your dinner. It's your favorite." Aunt Diane stood up and walked to the door. "You're worse than your uncle." She joked.

Kaitlyn looked over and gave her a faint smile. It quickly faded when her aunt closed the door.

She took the plate off the dresser and took a few bites of the food before putting it back and hiding under the covers once again.

Even though many things were promised by Elefun, he couldn't seem to keep them all. It started with the telling of lies that stirred up Metro City whole.

" _No way!"_

" _Atom's dead?"_

" _Poor robot….."_

Many were questioning how it was all possible, with just a simple response of "I'm not sure, I just walked into his room and saw him dead, there's nothing I or anyone can do about it at this point." coming out of Elefun's mouth.

Even catching the attention of Emily and Astro who tried calling Kaitlyn to tell her the news, but she never did answer them, leaving them both curious.

Until one day though when it was getting closer to the afternoon, Atom slowly opened his eyes and struggled to get up off the floor, his whole room smelled more worse than a locker room or a pair of stinky socks, not to mention how icky and gross his face looked competing with how hungry the poor robot was.

But somehow he mustered up enough courage to get up and walk out of his room for the first time in weeks.

He walked out into the hallway and passed by the living room where Elefun was, yet again, watching soap operas on TV. ((Cuz Elefun be hooked on that General Hospital crap xDD ~Emily))

Elefun turned around and took a double take.

"A-Atom?!" He sounded shocked.

"Y-Yeah." Even Atom's voice sounded weak.

"No no, go back to your room." Elefun got up and directed Atom to his room.

"W-what? What's going on?" Atom was confused.

"Well… um… you passed out and I kinda told everyone you were dead, so you have to stay in your room and keep it low."

"Wha? No no, I was never dead, You have to tell them I'm not dead, and I just left to get help…"

"No Atom, you have to stay here, I'm not telling anyone anything!"

Atom let go of Elefun and headed for the door.

"A-ATOM! ATOM COME BACK!" Elefun called out to him.

Atom had already walked out the door and went down the steps, and halfway down the driveway by the time Elefun got to the door and made his way outside.

"ATOM?! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!"

Atom had had enough, becoming super annoyed and somewhat angry, he slowly turned around to face Elefun and looking at him with a menacing look on his face.

"No one puts Atom in the corner!" He yelled at him before turning back around and storming away.

Elefun sighed.

"He'll never learn…" He walked back inside and slammed the door.

Atom continued on his way running down the street, catching the attention of a few civilians.

" _Woah, Is that Atom?"_

" _No no, Atom's dead, must be his twin."_

" _No way!"_

" _Astro? It that Astro?"_

But soon after going only halfway, Atom sat down on the sidewalk to take a break.

"Uhhhh, maybe the professor was right, I probably look terrible and I feel really sick and tired. Why am I even running anyways, there's no point in running anymore!"

Atom sighed.

Should he really turn back and go home?

No,

It was too late for that.

Suddenly though a thought slipped into Atom's mind.

He remembered the advice he gave Kaitlyn a while back.

And now was the perfect time to practice what he preached.

He got up from the sidewalk.

"I have to keep going!"

He continued on his way, going at an even faster pace than before.

He eventually made it downtown and thought of taking another small break.

But everything suddenly became blurry and Atom was struggling to go on, becoming even more weak until he passed out again on the sidewalk.

It wasn't long before a whole crowd flocked over to him to see what had went down.

" _Is he OK?"_

" _We need help, someone call the authorities!"_

" _Looks like he fainted."_

" _How do we know it's a he?"_

" _Wait, is that Astro?"_

Astro had decided to watch a little TV in the living room to ease his troubled mind, he was flicking through the channels and reached over to grab his bottle of rootbeer and noticed it was empty.

"CITIZEN, WE'RE OUT OF ROOTBEER! Oh wait, no one gives a shit about your rootbeer needs anymore Astro, fucking shitheads…" Astro yelled.

He soon stumbled upon a channel that was playing a breaking news report about Atom who had passed out downtown.

Astro gasped and slowly set the remote down.

"Ummmmmm, CITIZEN YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SHIT!" Astro yelled even louder to catch Tenma's attention.

Astro got no response.

"Ugh….. TENMA YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OVER HERE AND LEAVE MILLIE ALONE, MOM CAN HANDLE HER JUST FINE, NOW GET OVER HERE BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT ATOM ON THE FUCKING NEWS!"

"What do you want?" He walked into the living room.

"THERE'S SOMETHING ON THE NEWS ABOUT ATOM!"

He sat next to Astro.

" _The robot has now been rushed over to the Metro City robot hospital and his owner, Dr. Elefun is now being questioned about the matter."_

"I told you he was lying, but no one listens to me anymore!" Astro complained.

"At least he's still alive."

"True, we should go pay him a visit and make sure he's OK." Astro looked over at Tenma.

"Yes. We should. When do you plan on going?"

"I'm not sure, maybe soon, after you explain to me why you haven't been tending to my root beer needs…."

"Because I've been juggling between work, you, and the baby. And I still have myself and your mother to take care of."

"You have work? Wow….."

"Not like I was expecting it all of the sudden. It just happened."

"No I mean like who the fuck would hire _you_ , all you did before and sit around and complain, then you got married and had sex THEN I came in like 'what the fuck?' and NOW you're getting a job, WHAT HAS THE FUCKING WORLD TURNED INTO?! SOME KINDA… I DON'T EVEN KNOW?!"

Tenma blinked with his usual 'done with the world' face.

"I'll pretend you never said that and go get ready." He stood up.

"Sure sure, and on your way you can tend to my…. root beer needs." Astro said before getting cut off in the middle of his sentence by his own burping.

"You're not a little kid. Get your own root beer. And be ready to go in half an hour."

"No, I mean like go get your ass to the store and buy more, we're all out."

"You can wait until we go on Saturday."

"But that's so longgggggggggg." Astro complained.

"You'll live."

"Pft." Astro folded his arms and pouted.

"And you know I take long to get ready so half an hour won't do…." He said as he got up from the couch to go to his room.

Tenma rolled his eyes.

Soon after half an hour had passed, Tenma was waiting for Astro to finish getting ready.

But Astro was sitting on his chair which was wheeled up to his crowded closet and scanning the whole closet itself.

"So what band do I feel like showing off today, hmmm…."

Astro heard a knock at the door.

"ASTRO IS BUSY AT THE MOMENT, LEAVE A MESSAGE!" He yelled.

"Ugh." Tenma walked back to the living room and sat on the couch.

"WHAT? I DIDN'T HEAR YOU, YOU SAY SOMETHING?!" Astro yelled out.

"NO." Tenma yelled back to him.

"OK."

Then after another half hour had passed, Astro walked out of his room and into the living room.

"I'm done…."

Tenma got up and walked with Astro to where the front door was and opened it.

"Oh yeah, and we need to stop by Kaitlyn's on the way, I think something's up with her."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been trying to call her to tell her the news about Atom and she's not answering."

"Maybe she's still angry at you about a few months ago."

"Pffft, naw, she can't be…. I'm telling you something's up, and we have to tell her about this too."

"You're right she doesn't hold grudges like that. She would have said something to me too if she knew."

"Yup."

The two of them go in the car and drove off to Kaitlyn's before they would head off to visit Atom.

Tenma knocked on the door to Kaitlyn's house as Astro stood beside him.

"Whatever it is you're selling I don't- Oh! Hello Doctor. Astro." Her aunt answered the door.

"Sup." Astro replied.

"Kaitlyn isn't here, is she?" Tenma asked her.

"Oh. She is. I'll just um... I'll just go get her."

She walked over to the stairs.

"You two can just come in and help yourself to the couch." She looked back at the door.

Astro walked in. Tenma followed him and closed the door behind them.

"Woah, how come we can't live in a fancy place like this, or is your new job not giving you the proper funds to afford this?" Astro asked.

"What are you talking about. Our house is nice. Do you know how much the mortgage is?!"

"Well it shouldn't be a lot since for most of the time you were unemployed and still lived in it….."

"You know I have a lot of money, you dunce."

"Oh so you won the lottery too? Aw, that's nice…"

There was another knock on Kaitlyn's door.

After a few seconds, her aunt gave up on knocking and let herself in.

"There's someone here who wants to see you."

"Tell them it's too late and I'm dead." Kaitlyn said, muffled by the pillow over her head.

"Come on. It's been two weeks….."

"No."

"But It's Dr. Tenma."

Kaitlyn lifted her head out from under the covers and pillows and looked at her aunt.

"Uggghhh" She let her head drop back down onto the pillow.

"I'll be out in a few minutes….."

Aunt Diane smiled and left the room.

"So how long do you wanna bet she's gonna take to get her ass down here, I say the most two to three hours, so we might as well find something to keep us busy…." Astro said to Tenma.

"She'll be down in a minute." Kaitlyn's aunt walked down the stairs.

"Shit." Astro muttered.

"Hmm?" She looked at Astro with a confused look when she made it down the last steps.

"Consumed by the sorrows of depression, a novel by me from a few years from now."

"Oh god. He's here, too? I'm going back to my room." Kaitlyn stopped when she was halfway down the stairs and turned around.

"Consumed by the sorrows of depression and the urge to go back to my room, the sequel by me from many many years from now….."

"Oh no you don't. Get back down here, young lady." Her aunt quickly walked up the stairs and grabbed Kaitlyn's arm, pulling her back down the steps with her.

"Consumed by the sorrows of depression, the urge to go back to my room and being yelled at by my family, the fan fiction by one of my perverted fans…."

"Noooo. Only if you tape his mouth shut with duct tape!"

"Have a little decency, Kaitlyn."

"You can't make me. Not when that twerp is around."

"Naw it's cool, she's hate my guts since forever, nothing you can do about it, miss…."

"I'll make sure he keeps his pie hole closed." Tenma looked over at Kaitlyn.

"Pfffffffffffffftttt." Astro bursted out laughing.

Tenma put his hand over Astro's mouth. "Shut up or no root beer."

"Nuuu not the root beer, my babies!" Astro said in a muffled voice.

"I'm going to take my hand away and you're going to be quiet or else i'll never buy you root beer again for the next month."

"Nuuuuu, wait, can't I just buy it myself? Wow…."

"If I find any of it in the house, I'll pour it all down the sink."

"Hmmmmmmm, is my voice worth keeping shut for soda….. hmmmmm, can you give me some time to process all this?"

"No crackers either."

"So you're basically murdering me, oh I see….. I see it all clear now, my own father wants to kill me ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yeah i'll shut up now."

Tenma took his hand away from Astro's mouth.

Astro slowly scooted as far as he possibly could from Tenma with a look of fear on his face.

"He'll be fine." He looked up at Kaitlyn's aunt.

Kaitlyn sat in the chair next to the couch and folded her arms.

"What happened? You look terrible." Tenma looked at her.

She glared at him.

"Bad choice of words…." He looked away.

"How long?" He asked her aunt.

"A few weeks. She's never been this bad."

"A few weeks? I don't remember anything catastrophic happening a few weeks ago. Oh…. Is it..."

He looked over at Kaitlyn again.

"I'm sorry if we shut you out. Things have been crazy busy at our house. I didn't mean to-"

"No. It's not that." She shook her head.

"Is it Brandon?"

"No."

"Then what is it. You know you can tell me anything that's bothering you."

She looked down at the carpet.

"Me and Atom…. Got into a little fight… He was in trouble for something stupid but I told him it was ok for him to leave and come out somewhere with me. But obviously Elefun got mad and he must've told Atom something…. Well Atom shut me out for a few days then I went back to see him and… he just wanted me to leave…. Then things just went kinda downhill from there."

"Do you know why they said he was dead?" Astro asked.

"HE'S DEAD?! Oh no. Oh no. This is all my fault. What have I done?" Kaitlyn brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face in between them and tears flooded from her eyes.

"Ah. No. No. He's.. He's not dead." Tenma reached over and tried to comfort her.

"He's not?" She looked up and wiped her face with the palm of her hand..

"Apparently according to the news he was rushed to the robot hospital not too long ago after fainting in the middle of downtown…." Astro shrugged.

She put her head back down.

"I should have never told him to go to lunch with me. He would have just gone back inside at the end of the day and gotten something to eat and drink and he would have been ok"

"What do you mean, why wouldn't he get to ea- ohhhhhh I see what this is huh?"

"Elefun's a jerk but he wouldn't have gotten angrier if I had just…. It's all my fault..."

Tenma got up and kneeled in front of her.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. Every bad thing that's ever happened to any of you guys always trails back to me. Everything's my fault. And that's why no one likes me and didn't care that I didn't say anything for two weeks."

"No. It's not all your fault. Everyone makes their own mistakes and unfortunately, you got tangled up in them... And We've all been surprisingly busy for the beginning of the summer. Sometimes we forget about those who are important to us."

She sniffled again and nodded her head.

Astro sighed and stared at the ceiling.

"We're going to go visit him in the hospital. Would you like to come?"

Kaitlyn lifted her head up and wiped her face off again as she nodded.

"Well it was nice meeting you all, I had a great time and I think if we're gonna go see him we better go before the news crews show up and hog the entry and parking spaces…."

"I'll go wash up." Kaitlyn sluggishly stood up and walked back up the stairs.

"Don't take too long, no one likes waiting an hour for someone to get ready…."

Tenma looked over at Astro. "You're such a hypocrite."

"Pffft naw, bish I'm FABULOUS!"

"Do you even know what hypocrite means?"

"I have the IQ of a college student, what the fuck do I _not_ know?"

"You don't have to have a high IQ to get into college."

"Depends on which college you know… and i'm talking like ivy league, not communishit college…."

"Call me when you beat Marilyn vos Savant at chess."

"Will do…" Astro nodded.

Kaitlyn walked back down a few minutes later with damp hair and a different set of clothes on.

"OK we're ready, see ya!" Astro got up and headed for the door.

"Bye." Kaitlyn walked up to her Aunt and gave her a hug before walking out the door.

Tenma waved goodbye and closed the door behind them.

"So what did you mean by Atom not being able to eat, I mean I know Elefun's cruel and all. but I don't think he'd go that far, then again I never ate anyways so how the fuck would I know…." Astro asked Kaitlyn.

"He said Atom was being an asshole to him, which I doubt is possible, so he made him sit outside on the front steps all day."

"Geez, he must really just want us all to like commit suicide or just leave his house, because _I_ don't even remember being sent outside for being an asshole…."

"He's being ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually a certified psychopath at this point."

"Pfft."

"I wouldn't allow him to be around robots anymore. Let alone work at the ministry anymore."

She looked back at Tenma for a moment. "Oh. You probably relate to this, don't you."

"Somewhat. Though I never intended to harm any robots. Especially not in the cruel ways Elefun does it."

"What're you talking about!? You tried getting other robots to kill me!" Astro turned around and faced Tenma.

"True. But I knew you were strong enough to fight them off. And to add to my argument, I was _actually_ insane. Now get in the car, we don't have much time."

The three of them got in the car and drove out to the robot hospital.

"So… was it like meds…. or…." Kaitlyn looked next to her at Tenma.

He glared at her for a moment. She sunk down in her seat and looked out at the road.

"I had to pull myself out of it. The stress from my work and my son and wife dying made me snap. Something inside me took over. I had no idea what I was doing. But being in prison and home alone for all that time gave me a reason and time to snap myself out of it all. When Astro went missing, that was the final make or break moment. I made it out eventually, though. 'A rare bout of extreme insanity' if you want to call it that."

"Oh…. Well I'm glad you aren't nuts anymore…."

"Me too." He smiled at her.

Soon they arrived at the hospital.

"No sign of the media." Astro looked around the lobby.

"Come on Astro. The elevator finally came down." He ran over to Kaitlyn and Tenma and got in the elevator with them.

They made it to Atom's room and walked in. He was still sleeping soundly.

"Oh gawd. He looks nasty!" Astro held his nose. "He smells, too….."

"I.. I can't…." Kaitlyn took a step backwards.

"Smell anymore? Yeah I don't think I can either. His stupid stench burnt my nose! Ah! I can't even look at him either! I don't want my eyeballs to fall out, too."

"No.. I can't… This is… too much..." She turned around and bolted out the door.

"Kaitlyn!" Tenma followed after her.

He opened the door, walked out into the hall and looked both ways down the hall to see which way she went.

"KAITL-" He turned around to see her sitting at the seats next to the door.

"Too much for you?" He sat next to her and placed his hand on her back.

She nodded.

"I can't believe I let this happen..."

"Look, sometimes things happen and we can't do anything about it."

She looked up at him for a moment then back down at the ground.

Atom soon slowly opened his eyes and woke up again.

"W-wh-where am I?" Atom sluggishly asked.

"You're at the hospital, and you went out like a boss in the middle of downtown, sheesh, got the media involved and everything!"

"Oh gawd… I haven't eaten in weeks and I feel so bad…" Atom complained.

After a moment had passed, Astro walked out of the room.

"Well great, now everyone is gone." Atom complained.

"Hey any of you got money? Atom wants food and i'm more broke than the broke moms in the yo mama jokes….." Astro asked both Tenma and Kaitlyn.

"Here." Tenma opened his wallet and gave Astro 30 dollars.

"Dude, I'm just going to the vending machin- thanks for the money!" Astro stormed off.

"What! Wait!.. Ugh.."

"I know. I thought he was going to the cafeteria too..." Kaitlyn let out a small chuckle.

Tenma smiled.

"There's the Kaitlyn I know." He ruffled her hair.

She smiled.

Astro came back a while later with a few snacks in his hand.

"Gee, they hide these vending machine good, i'm guessing they assume robots like us eat a well balanced meal, hahaha, 'well balanced meal' HAHAHAHAHA!" Astro laughed quite hard. ((For those who don't get this, Astro doesn't really eat that often, and usually when he does it's mostly junk food, so that fact that most people think he eats all healthy and shizz, makes him laugh because he knows he doesn't. ~Emily))

"Oh, and I got some napkins for you guys incase Niagara Falls pours from your eyes anytime soon." He held out a stack of napkins to Kaitlyn.

"I think I'm fine now. But thanks anyways." She took the napkins from Astro.

"Yup." Astro walked away and went inside Atom's room.

"I brought food." Astro began.

Atom slowly sat up.

"Seriously? A bag of chips, are you trying to sell me air?" Atom replied.

"Yeah pretty much, you're welcome." Astro handed the small bag of chips to Atom.

"And you should really shower, you smell like a dumpster, ew…"

"Well when you don't take a shower for weeks, you start to stink…"

"Ew really? Gross, I think i'm just gonna leave before I throw up." Astro headed for the door.

"Guys, I can't take it anymore, he smells like a really stinky dumpster and I think i'm gonna puke if I keep smelling it, someone should really give him a bath or some shit." Astro complained to both Tenma and Kaitlyn.

"I'm sure the nurses will take care of that soon." Tenma looked over at Astro.

"And I didn't know bags of chips were air, what the actual fuck?"

"There may be or not be one or two actual chips in there." Kaitlyn looked up.

"Well at least i'll be reminded down the road of what a terrible sibling I am… nothing like being called out for giving Atom air when he's severely hungry."

"You could go down to the cafeteria and get him some real food."

"Wait, they have a cafeteria? Woah…."

"Yeah. They do."

"Well, I don't know what kind of food he likes, is he a tomato soup cracker guy? or is he one of those cray people that eat everything fried? How would I know?!"

"He really likes salad."

"Oh and how would _you_ know, hmmm? You stalk him before?"

"Because I'm his best friend. And I'm there for him more than his _actual brother_ is…." Kaitlyn raised her eyebrow.

"Pffft, excuses, excuses…. Fine, I guess I'll just go get a salad, you douchebags want anything?"

"No." Kaitlyn shook her head.

"Me neither." Tenma said.

"Good, because you would have had to get it yourself anyways…." Astro laughed and walked away again.

"You think he will ever stop being an asshole?" Kaitlyn asked Tenma.

"Probably not."

Astro came back a while later with a half-eaten salad in his hand.

"Man guys, I dunno, but this salad tastes pretty good!" He said.

"W-What did you do? That was supposed to be for Atom!" Tenma stood up.

"I know, i'm just test tasting it to make sure it's not poisonous or bad tasting…."

"There's barely any left!" Tenma took the salad from Astro and looked in the container it was held in.

"Yeah, I think I got carried away with the whole 'test tasting' thing…."

Tenma sighed.

"You stay put. I'm going to go get another salad." He walked down the hall.

"You better taste test that one too, don't wanna kill him or make him puke!"

"I highly doubt that's going to happen…."

"Pfft, fine." Astro folded his arms.

"You like my suspenders, I thought rulers would go great for school, whatcha' think?" Astro asked Kaitlyn.

"Mmmhmm." She nodded

"Haha, I've had these for _years_ ….."

"Hey look, citizen left the old salad, don't mind if I do!" Astro picked up the bowl of half-eaten salad and began to eat it again.

"It's amazing Metro City built a robot hospital just for robots, like I seriously thought they didn't give a shit and thought the Ministry could handle it all, I guess they were wrong….Brianna says she actually wants to get a job here and I started laughing so hard…. oh gosh…."

"That's not a bad idea, though."

"What do you mean? she's like terrified of the whole medical field, it's like a person that's scared of blood and needles becoming a surgeon…."

"I know. But most robots are just nuts, bolts, and wires."

"True, but I think it might be a _little_ bit too advanced for her, unless she's up for the challenge…."

"She wouldn't be an actual doctor or anything. They would start he off small. Like an office assistant or one of those nurse's assistants."

"True…."

Soon, Tenma came back with another salad and spoon in his hand.

"He's in there, and you should have asked for a mask." Astro said to Tenma.

Tenma rolled his eyes and walked into the room.

Atom sat up to see who it was.

"Oh hi da- I mean Tenma!" Atom greeted.

"Hello!" Tenma smiled.

"I got you something to eat." He handed Atom the salad.

"Really? Yay! Not to be mean to Astro, but I think he just gave me a bag of air… but I obviously wasn't mean about it…. i'm too nice to mock him." Atom gladly took the salad from Tenma.

"So how'd you know I was here?" He asked.

"I came here with Astro."

"Oh, that's nice."

Atom sighed.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing, it's nothing…"

"Mmm… Well how are you feeling?"

"Depends, we talking physically or emotionally."

"Both, I guess."

"Then I feel like total crap."

"Oh"

"Not only do I stink, I look hideous, I'm extremely hungry, thirsty and tired, and to top that off, I was a terrible friend and a huge retard with the smallest heart known to man and an IQ smaller than a newborn…." Atom sighed again and tried to hide his tears.

"I think you're a great friend and you have a heart bigger than all of us and the smarts to match." Tenma put his hand on Atom's shoulder.

Atom looked up at him and forced a smile.

Tenma smiled back.

"I know it's fake but I'll let this one slide."

Atom took a bite of the salad and sat back again, trying his hardest not to show how bad he felt about the actions he took and the outcome it had.

He kept looking down and blinking his eyes in between every bite he took of the salad.

Tenma left the room to check up on Astro and Kaitlyn.

The minute he left, Atom set the salad aside and covered his face as he started to sob.

"Ok. Good. You two didn't kill each other."

"Damn Citizen, do you really gotta spoil my plan?!" Astro complained.

"Well I was about to then you came back out." Kaitlyn folded her arms and smirked.

"Yeah man why you gotta- wait? Do you guys hear that?"

"Hmm?" Tenma looked at Astro.

"Sounds kinda like someone's crying, might be someone next door not taking needles well, not gonna blame them, I don't take them well either…."

"I don't know... it sounds like it's coming from Atom's room." Kaitlyn looked at the door next to her.

"Nah, Atom's the only one in there, and Tenma just gave him salad, if anything he's eating the whole thing like a barbaric caveman."

"If you think so..."

"Well if you wanna go peep inside and check, be my guest."

Tenma opened the door and walked in again.

Atom was still lying in his hospital bed and crying as before, but his knees were brought up to his chest and his head was down.

"Atom?"

Atom didn't even speak, he just continued to sob.

Tenma walked up and sat next to him in the bed. He gently rubbed his back.

"I-I s-shouldn't have b-een s-so s-selfish and y-yelled at h-her!" Atom stuttered.

"We all make mistakes."

"Well, there not as bad as mine!"

Tenma sighed.

"A-and now s-she probably h-hates me and d-doesn't even w-wanna t-talk to me anymore…."

"She doesn't hate you."

"W-well of course she does! I-I said many m-mean things to her I should have never said and I p-p-" Atom couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Trust me. She doesn't hate you."

"I-I have to go apologize." Atom tried getting out of his hospital bed.

"No. Don't get up." Tenma held him back.

"But I have to go say sorry!"

"You're too weak. You need to stay here."

Atom sighed, putting his head down again.

"I bet you she didn't even come because she doesn't wanna see me anymore…"

"No. She's here."

"R-really?" Atom looked up at Tenma.

"Mmmhmm." He nodded

Atom smiled as more tears streaked down his cheeks.

"Do you want me to go get her?"

"No no, I mean you can _offer_ her to come, but just don't force her to come in…"

Tenma nodded.

Atom sighed yet again and wiped a few tears from his face.

Tenma got up and walked over to the door, sticking his head out into the hallway.

"Kaitlyn. You want to come in?"

She looked up at Tenma for a moment then back down at the floor.

After a second of thinking, she nodded and stood up.

The two of them walked into the room where Atom continued to wipe off tears from his face just as new ones took it's place.

Kaitlyn gave him a faint smile.

Atom looked up at her and was about to say something but it seemed like the words couldn't escape Atom's mouth.

"I'm sorry." Atom whispered.

Kaitlyn walked up to him and put her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, too."

Atom buried his head in her chest and sobbed even more.

She held him tighter.

"I-I should have never yelled at you or pushed you away, it's a mistake I've learned to _never_ make again, ever."

"It's ok, Atom. I know you were only try to keep me safe. But I should have never told you to disobey Elefun."

Atom sniffled.

"Let's never do any of this ever again."

"Agreed."

"You really need to take a shower..."

"Well, just like I told Astro, when you don't take a shower for weeks, you start to stink…"

"Ew..."

"I know right…. ew."

Kaitlyn pulled away.

"I love you." Atom smiled warmly at her.

"I love you, too." Kaitlyn smiled back

Atom yawned and sluggishly moved his arm. "C-can you pass me my salad?"

Kaitlyn chuckled and reached over, grabbing Atom's salad and handing it to him.

Atom sleepily grabbed it from her and took a bite.

"It's surprising no one else has stopped by here, I come here so often everyone already knows me and says hi…."

Atom sighed.

"I'm gonna be so dead when I get home, especially if he just went around and told everyone I was dead and now i'm back, probably gonna lose _a lot_ of cred….."

"He deserves it. He lied so he's going to come out as a liar."

Atom looked over at Tenma.

"All I have to say is, Astro has incredible timing, because things just went even more downhill after he left…."

Tenma nodded.

"I just feel really bad about myself I've gone through quite a lot lately and I just feel so helpless….."

"I wish I could do something to help."

"I wish too, but i'm just too nice to try and change things, and there's no point because I lose anyways and end up acting like a three year old." Atom folded his arms.

"It just wouldn't even be worth trying…"

Astro walked into the room.

"Geez, the news is turning into such a reality TV show!" He said.

"What do you mean?" Kaitlyn looked at him.

"The news crew are all up at Elefun's and he's not saying shit and they're trying to get him out so they can talk to him about Atom but he won't respond, mind you this is on _live television_ …."

"He's making himself look worse, honestly."

"I agree, but that means Atom better get his ass out of here because if he keeps up like this they're gonna flock their asses over here to get Atom's side of the story…."

"Maybe it's best that Atom tells them."

"Well yeah, but Atom isn't mentally prepared for that shit, _I_ wasn't even prepared when I did the speech that almost killed me because it was _clearly_ okay to bring a gun with you to a speech and try to shoot someone, pffft." Astro folded his arms.

"Well someone's gotta tell them the truth."

"True, but…. well…. like I said, he's probably not gonna be ready when the media gets here, so we might as well start prepping him."

"Mmmhmm." Kaitlyn nodded.

"What?" Atom looked up.

"Mmmhmm." She repeated.

"No I mean like what are you guys talking about?"

"Oh. Well for whatever reason the news is going crazy over this. They might want to interview you about it or something since Elefun is being a bitch and not saying anything."

"Oh gawd." Atom put his head down.

"Told you."

"You don't have to be scared Atom. We'll help you prepare for it if they do come."

"Hmmm, looks like they're leaving Elefun's house now, don't have much time left." Astro said as he looked at his phone.

"Ahh."

"Haha, quite handy to have to news on your phone, but to be honest I only use it when things like this come up where it switches from regular news to reality TV…." Astro laughed as he walked out of the room.

"So uh, what do I even say?" Atom asked.

"SAY YOU LIKE PONIES AND ELEFUN DOESN'T LIKE THAT BECAUSE HE'S AN OLD ASS MAN THAT LIVES IN THE 20TH CENTURY AND DESERVES TO GO TO HELL FOR IT!" Astro yelled.

"Um… No…. Just tell them the truth." Kaitlyn looked at Atom

"I-I think I can do that…."

She smiled.

"Do you think they'll come in here, or do I have to get up, because I look like complete crap right now, plus I stink."

"They'll probably come here. But you have time to clean up."

Atom set his now finished salad aside and slowly got up and walked out of the room.

He soon came back a while later and walked into the room again.

"Phew! I think I feel a lot better now." He said as he crawled into his bed.

"You look better too"

"Yeah."

A few minutes later they heard a few voices talking from outside the room.

"Ha, gotcha! I'm watching the news on my phone, news-ception!" Astro said as he zoomed his phone in closer to the camera.

"Yes um, we were wondering if you knew where your twin was." a voice that sounded like a female.

"Oh yeah, he's in there, but go easy on him, he's never been on TV before and a few of my folks are in there too so…"

"Will do." The lady responded before she slowly opened the door.

"Pffft, I can't believe they didn't find my news-ception joke funny, THAT WAS FUCKING GOLD!" Astro folded his arms.

The news lady and her cameraman walked inside.

"Hey Atom..." The lady said.

Atom waved at her.

"Well im here on behalf of the Metro City news and thought we'd get a little insight on your side of the story...if you're okay with that."

"Yeah yeah sure, i think i can do this." Atom chuckled.

The news lady walked up closer to him as Tenma and Kaitlyn moved out of the way and sat down in nearby seats that were on the other side of the room.

"You are aware you were pronounced dead a few days ago, correct?"

"Uh, yeah i just got told today actually, it was quite sudden, and uh... It just surprises me, i guess i mean, what do i know, i'm just a kid that sits around and reads books, like what would I know that's worthy of being heard?"

"And were you actually dead?"

"Well, no... Well sorta, you see like humans, when you don't eat or sleep or shower you can die, but we robots just go into an emergency shutdown, kinda like fainting, but it last quite a while, could go on for weeks on end!"

"And yet Dr. Elefun said you were dead when you never were. Is he the one who deprived you of your needs?"

"Well I'd love to go into details and all but i'm not just gonna be like 'Oh it was you, it's all your fault and you're gonna pay!' I kinda wanna be a little more generic and not really call anyone out..."

"What then caused you to fall into a such a state?"

"Well, to be honest."

Atom sighed.

"When you realize... Hmmmm, how can i word this?"

"Ever since i was born, i think I've seriously learned a lot about the world out there and how scary and painful it is, i've been through things normal people don't go through, things that are considered horrid and something that no one should go through, i've been called many things by many people because i am who i and i chose to put a ring on something some people don't want me to put a ring on, i've been called childish, I've been told I'll never do anything in life and it makes me laugh so hard because... Because they actually have the intelligence to say these things, like if a kid that does nothing all day has more common sense and is far more caring them a person with a doctorate degree, I think that says far more about society, so what made me fall into this state is pretty much narrowed down to that simple fact, the fact that..."

"I allowed someone higher than me to bring me down when all along, _I_ was the higher person and I was letting people walk all over me."

"So did he do it or not, kid? We don't have all day."

Atom sighed and turned around.

"You people disgust me, all you do is find the next big thing to win you money! All you want is my stupid answer about your bullshit! Well you know what, yeah it was, are you happy now?! Are you happy you broke me down to size just to win you what, a few you spend on stuff nobody needs, how about instead of interviewing my sorry ass you can go do something to better this world and not make a holes out of everybody!"

"Look, the people want this. We're trying to create a story with some truth. If this isn't interesting enough, it won't make it far enough to make us that kinda money. You're lucky we're even live so we have to publish the truth." She whispered.

"Well then the people are no better than the man that said i was dead!"

"Well now that we know he did it, can you tell us how exactly it all happened?"

Atom sighed.

"Fine, it started like what, two, three weeks ago? Yeah, and..."

"I-i was talking to Elefun, everything seemed to be fine, until i was basically being discriminated in front of my face, i mean he didn't say it to me, but you know, anyways, so then i said 'so you're gonna discriminate me like that?' And he's clueless and im like 'I know what you just said and you're basically being a homophobe' and he kinda denies it, but i'm there yelling at him. And... Then i get punished an hour later."

"And?"

"And then i sat there in the hot sun."

"Then what happened after that?"

"Time went on, did some other 'nasty' things, came back home and... Things didn't get any better after that..."

"So did the Doctor refuse to fulfill your basic needs?"

"No, i did it to myself because i felt bad for what i did and i never deserved another day to live, so I shut myself away from the world and basically slowly killed myself..."

"And so you ended up here?"

"Well it's a long story, but according to my twin, i went out like a boss in the middle of downtown and it was all over the news and everything!"

The reporter cleared her throat. "Are we still live, Juan?" She whispered to the cameraman

The cameraman nodded.

"Well!" She pushed the camera so it was pointed at her. "That was quite the story! I'm Hannah Smith with the 8 o'clock news. Back to you, Mick."

"Good job, kid. You made history." She looked over at Atom.

Atom sighed and got up close to her.

"If you even think about bringing your sorry ass over here to interview my helpless soul again, ill make sure you and your cameraman go to hell." He said in a dark voice before smiling and walking out of the room.

She cleared her throat again. "Ahem. As I was saying..." She turned to Kaitlyn and Tenma. "He made one of the worse news stories I've ever seen. People were already theorizing that ELefun was doing something and this just said that he's a certified bitch."

Kaitlyn looked away and nervously rubbed her arm. "I mean he did leave out quite a bit….."

"He did, did he?"

"Ahhhhh. Maybe?" Kaitlyn looked up and smiled nervously.

"Wanna give us a little scoop we can add it later?"

The cameraman moved the camera to Kaitlyn as the reporter put a microphone in her face.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Is that recording?" She whispered with a pale face

"Yeah. Hurry up. Every second of this tape is worth more than your college tuition."

Kaitlyn felt a few beads of sweat form on her forehead.

"Well I'm not sure if I should be saying this…." She glanced over at Tenma. He seemed shocked and regretting that Kaitlyn had even spoken up. She gulped.

"Well…. You want the _whole_ truth. I'll give you the wholetruth…." She turned back to the camera

Atom walked into the room.

"Don't say shit Kaitlyn, its not worth anything at all, if the public wants the story they're just gonna have to find it some other way because i don't wanna call anyone out or make a scene, just get up and leave and let the poor lady go find something more interesting like all the _other_ kids that have gone through what i have and are far more stronger then all of us put together, because even though you say im strong and you say I shouldn't listen to what Elefun says, in the end of it all, it's your life and if you chose to be an ass, you'll be one, but if you chose to be open and have respect and have the ability to deal with bs like this, then you will and that's what makes you strong, not this media crap, you can't buy strength, you earn through hard work, not this."

"ATOM!" Kaitlyn stood up and interrupted him before he could say anymore.

"What? Its the truth! I'm not gonna lie to you, you're my best friend..."

"Atom shut up. I've been through the same shit as you. I don't care about strength anymore. I'm sick and tired of sitting in the shadows helplessly, waiting for something to happen that might make the shadows go away."

"Well doing this isn't gonna help you!"

"I don't care." She turned to the camera and grabbed the microphone out of the reporter's hand..

"Kaitlyn, i'm not letting you do this!"

"Atom here was left outside by his caretaker, Dr. Elefun. He had no access to food, water, or a bathroom. And he was ordered to stay outside in the blistering sun for a whole day."

"I WAS PUNISHED FOR BEING GAY! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED?!"

"YOU WERE PUNISHED AND ABUSED FOR SOMETHING YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABUSED AND PUNISHED FOR! "

"AND YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN HIM BY DOING THIS!"

"Dr. Elefun was deliberately abusing Atom, a minor. I had come up to his house and saw this, and although it was disobeying Elefun's orders, I told Atom it was OK to go somewhere and get food for him."

Atom, with tears in his eyes stormed away out of the room.

Kaitlyn looked over then took a deep breath and looked back at the camera.

"We went back to his house and Elefun threatened me and Atom. I would not let Atom back into a hostile environment. I took him back to my house. We stood there until I felt it was OK to take Atom back. When I let him back in that was the last time I saw him for a few days. I came back. He was manipulated into thinking I was someone he shouldn't be around and that if I was either of us would be hur-"

Astro stormed into the room.

"Um guys? Not to interrupt your bullshit, but Atom just left, like _left_ left and I don't see him around..."

"Ahh. ME AND ATOM GOT IN A FIGHT! WE BOTH FELL INTO DEEP STATES OF DEPRESSION AND WE BOTH STARVED OURSELVES. ELEFUN DECLARED ATOM DEAD BECAUSE HE WAS TOO LAZY TO FIX HIM. ATOM RAN AWAY AFTER WAKING UP. BLACKED OUT. CAME HERE. IM DONE. BYE." She blurted out quickly.

"Citizen?! Kaitlyn, KAITLYN ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" He walked up to kaitlyn and snatched her mic.

"Do you not realize what you just fucking did?!"

"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE."

"No Kaitlyn, you hurt Atoms fucking feelings and now he's gone to lord knows where because you give no damn shit about his privacy?!"

"AHHHHHHH. IT WAS MY PRIVACY TOO THANK YOU!" She ran out of the room.

"ATOM! ATOM!" She yelled down the halls as she ran down them.

"Bullshit, if you put that on the news i'm having my father sue your ass for invading privacy, Atom clearly didn't tell the whole story for a reason and then bitch from preschool spills the beans!"

"I'm suing the news?" Tenma looked confused and still in shock.

"Well they can't put what Kaitlyn said on live TV if Atom never gave them permission to do so?!"

"Freedom of speech, kid." The reported looked at Astro.

"But you have a right to your own privacy, and putting this up _will_ be invading someone's privacy!"

"And my names not kid, it's Astro!"

"Fine. But just because I'm feeling nice today. Juan. Burn it."

Juan sighed.

Astro sighed.

"Now we gotta go look for Atom..." He looked at Tenma.

Tenma got up and walked through the door.

Astro followed close behind.

"No one even cares anyways." Atom said as he wandered around the parking lot.

"All they want is to screw you over, and the fact that Kaitlyn went all out to the news just- IT PISSES ME OFF!" Atom kicked a rock and it flew very far.

Kaitlyn had gone down the the second floor, still calling out Atom's name as she searched the hallways.

Tenma and Astro made it to the lobby to see if anyone there saw Atom pass by.

"Did you see a black haired kid, about 5'4", come through here...?" Tenma asked a random stranger.

"You mean that kid, right there?" They pointed to Astro.

"W...what? no. This isn't who we're looking for. This is his twin."

"Yeah, you see anyone that looks like me pass by?"

"I'm not sure. Even if I did how can I be sure it wasn't you and not your twin?"

"Because he doesn't dress like he's going to a funeral..."

"But what if be changed?"

"Ok, you're helpless, let's go." Astro walked away.

"Ahh.. Pardon my son's ignorance. Thanks for the help." Tenma walked away, smiling nervously.

Kaitlyn had slowed down after making it back to the elevator.

She looked out the window for a moment and looked out at the parking lot.

She saw a small figure walking around towards the back of the lot, where there weren't many cars.

"Is that?"

She walked up to the window.

"ATOM!"

she ran to the elevator.

Astro made it to the front desk.

"So you see people come in and out here, you see a kid with my face run through?"

"Ummm maybe, saw this big blob storm through here and run out to the parking lot, not sure if that's what you're looking for?"

"Thanks. CITIZEN WE'RE TAKING OUR ASSES TO THE PARKING LOT!" Astro yelled.

There was a ding from the elevator behind them.

Suddenly someone ran by them and out the front doors.

"NO RUNNING!" said someone at the desk, a little late though because the person was already gone.

"Was that?..."

"Nah. Couldn't have been."

Tenma and Astro casually walked out the door.

Atom made it out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk, he seemed very annoyed and angry.

"I clearly told her not to do it, and what does she do? She does it! She didn't give two diddly squats! She didn't give a crap about the reason i even got into my problem in the first place, all she did was tell a story i clearly did not want said to the public for a reason, because its- its just not right to be discriminated against, and the public doesn't need to see that, they don't need to know about my personal life at all!"

Kaitlyn ran down the pavement. Her vision began to become hazy but she could still make out a figure at the end of the lot, who was now walking along the sidewalk. She quickened her pace.

"Maybe I'll just go move somewhere else and find people that actually care and would stick up for me instead of getting the media involved."

She was only a few yards away now but her feet felt like lead bricks.

Atom turned a corner and stopped for a moment.

"Where am I even going?!"

"I'm not letting you get away" Kaitlyn whispered before taking a leap and tackling Atom, holding him down on the ground.

"AH KAITLYN GET OFF ME!"

"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO GET UP ONLY FOR YOU TO RUN AWAY."

"WELL MAYBE I HAVE A REASON TO RUN!"

"AHHHH. IM SORRY, OK!?"

"NO, YOU CROSSED THE LINE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL THE STORY FOR A REASON AND YOU STILL DID AND ON TOP OF THAT, YOU DIDNT EVEN DO ANYTHING TO STICK UP FOR ME WHEN I SAID I WAS BEING DISCRIMINATED?!"

"I know... I know... I'm a fucking idiot. Someone should just sew my mouth shut. I never think before I act and I'm just a big jerk. I don't deserve to be friends with someone as great as you."

"And you don't even know how much it hurt when he said it, because it hurt a lot!"

"I know... I know what it's like for people to talk shit about you. I tried saying something about how he's being sexist but it just didn't come out right. I was blaming him for everything else."

"But this is far more than just talking shit, alright? I don't think I've ever felt so much pain when he said it... And you'll never know..."

"Trust me. I know..."

"No, because he's not the only one, it's everyone in this effed up society!"

"I know."

"Well if you really did know, you'd do something about it?!"

"I didn't know that that was what you we're trying to get across to them, ok!?..." She slowly got up and moved over to the side. "If I knew I would have kept my mouth closed... I'm... I'm so sorry..." She looked down and tried not to cry.

Astro and Tenma finally caught up to Kaitlyn and Atom who stood up and walked away with tears streaming down his face.

"Can I just die, please?" Kaitlyn whispered, squinting her eyes tightly.

"Wait where's Atom going? ATOM!" Astro called out.

"I give up." Astro sat down on the sidewalk and looked at Tenma.

Tenma ran his hand through his hair and sighed, not sure of what else to do.

"At this point we lost him, he's gone for good, heading down a road of death and depression..."

Kaitlyn clenched her fists as her whole body began to quiver.

"Not only was he mocked for being gay, but now everyone in Metro City knows too..."

"Shut up..." Kaitlyn said through her teeth.

"I'm just telling the truth so you can get the _whole_ story!" Astro said in a mocking tone.

She wanted to kick him in the face, but tried her best to hold it back.

"Well, we better be heading home or else Cindy will lose her mind, and we have to take you back anyways, SO LETS GET A MOVE ON FOLKS!" Astro stood up and started heading for the parking lot.

"Wait..." Tenma said to him.

"What? Ohh i see, you wanna grab a snack for the road?"

"Just be quiet for a moment."

"Ummmm, alright then..."

"Kaitlyn?" Tenma took a step towards her.

She loosened up and unclenched her fists. She lifted her head up and walked towards the parking lot.

Tenma followed her. "Come along, Astro. Let's go now."

"That's what i said!"

They walked back to the car.

"Well it was nice visiting him." Astro began.

Kaitlyn stared out the window.

Tenma nodded in agreement with Astro.

Atom was sitting on the sidewalk a little farther than where he was before. He watched all the cars pass by as it was getting darker.

After a while he saw Tenma's car pass by.

"Hey look, there's Atom!" Astro pointed out.

Tenma looked back for a moment before finding somewhere to turn around. He pulled up in front of Atom.

Atom pretended to be oblivious to the fact that Tenma had just pulled his car up to him.

Astro rolled down his window.

Atom was about to get up, but he sighed instead.

"I don't need a ride home." He muttered.

"I dunno if home's a great place for you to be right now." Astro said.

"Exactly." Atom picked up a rock.

"This rock represents that this is my territory."

"Ahhhhhh. Ok? So are you a hermit now, or...?"

"Im staying here, at least I won't be hurt here, emotionally that is..."

Tenma rolled down the window next to Kaitlyn. She kept staring out the windshield.

"You can't stay out here all night, you'll freeze." Tenma said.

"Good, let that go all over the news!"

Kaitlyn closed her eyes.

"Don't be like that, Atom... Just get in and we'll try and figure out where you can stay."

Atom sighed.

"I'm far beyond hurt and I'm a monster! No one wants a monster around, at least not anymore..."

"You're not a monster, Atom."

"Well then what am i?!" Atom raised his voice.

"You're a teenager and a clone of my son, technically making you my son and my responsibility. I will not have you sitting out here all night and freezing to death all for what? Some silly news report?"

"You don't understand!"

"You wouldn't know because you weren't alive yet, but Kaitlyn, and certainly Astro know that only a few years ago, I was all over the news. I made headlines. Everyone thought I was a monster."

"S-so what did you do?" Atom asked.

"I didn't let what I did become a permanent part of me. I learned to let it go. News is news. People can go back and see it. But what you did doesn't have to make you. There's always room for change. And whether other people think you're OK or not, at least you know you are, and that's what matters most."

Atom looked at Tenma and smiled.

"Get in this car. It's for your own good."

Atom took a moment to think before a smirk appeared on his face.

"Move over, buttface." Atom laughed as he walked up to the car and Astro scooted over.

"Just to let you know, what Kaitlyn said isn't going on TV. So don't worry. They discarded the tape." Tenma looked back at Atom.

"Phew! That's a relief, i just don't think I'd like my personal life to go public, at least not like that..."

Tenma nodded and started driving again.

"Wait! I forgot to put my rock back!"

"You can just hold it for now. Well put it back outside later."

"Haha, al- right." Atom yawned.

"Whoo, I'm getting sleepy, looks like i'm due for a-" Atom leaned his head on Astro and started to snore.

"Ack! Seriously?!" Astro complained.

Tenma chuckled.

Soon after driving for a while, they stopped by Kaitlyn's house.

She silently got out of the car.

Atom would have said goodbye and given her a hug, but he was still fast asleep.

"Goodbye!" Tenma said out the window.

Kaitlyn waved as she walked up to the door.

"Can I sit in the front, he's starting to drool..."

"Mmmhmm." Tenma nodded.

"Yay!" Astro got out and went to go sit in the passengers seat.

"So what are we gonna do with him?" Astro asked.

"I'm not sure. We'll figure it out as we go. Let's just get home first."

"Yupy yup!"

Kaitlyn heard the car drive away as she made it to the front door and knocked on it.

"Oh. Kaitlyn! You're ba-"

Kaitlyn walked by her aunt then up to her room.

She picked up the pill bottle and took out a single pill. She examined it before putting it in her mouth and swallowing it with the cup of water next to it.

She then sat down on her bed, turned on her phone, and scrolled through her missed notifications.

Astro fumbled around trying to find the perfect station until he stumbled upon a screamo song playing.

"Yassss, this song is epic!" Astro said before singing along.

"Ahhh. That's too loud, Astro. You'll wake up your brother."

"What?!"

"MY. EARS. ARE. GOING. TO. EXPLODE."

Astro turned off the radio.

"What was that Citizen, I didn't hear you?"

"IT'S TOO- I mean... It's too loud."

"Hmmm, okay." Astro turned it back on and leaned back in his seat.

Tenma reached over and turned down the volume.

After another long drive, they finally arrived home again with Astro being the first to get out and Tenma making his way to the backseat so he can wake up Atom.

"Atom." Tenma shook his shoulder gently.

"Hmmm?" Atom slowly opened his eyes and he sleepily spoke,

"We're here. Its time to get out?

"Oh, okay." Atom nodded and got out of the car.

"Geez my face feels wet, did we visit a water park along the way?" Atom joked.

"You were drooling."

"Ew, that sounds disgusting."

"Just try drying your face off."

"Alright." Atom nodded.

Tenma and Atom made it up to Astro, who was waiting at the front door.

Tenma unlocked it and walked in.

Astro and Atom walked inside,

behind Tenma.

Cindy happened to be walking out of the kitchen when they walked in.

She caught a glimpse at Atom.

"Another one?! These kids are flooding in here like they're giving them out for free on the streets." She joked with a smirk on her face as she walked up to Atom, Astro, and Tenma.

Atom smiled at her.

"Good evening, dear." Tenma put his arms around her waist and gave her a little smooch on the lips.

Atom couldn't help but hide behind Astro to cover the fact that he was blushing because he found it cute.

A loud cry filled the room, echoed by a similar, but muffled version of the annoying noise.

Cindy grabbed the baby monitor from her pocket and placed it and the bottle in her other hand on Tenma's chest.

"Your turn."

He sighed and grabbed the items from her hands before walking down the hall and to the baby's room.

Atom looked over at Astro who had began to walk away to his room.

Atom was standing all alone with only Cindy around, not sure about what to do next.

She looked over at him.

"Have you ever felt so hurt that hurt is an understatement?" Atom asked Cindy.

"Um. Yeah. Probably once. At least."

"Well I think it just hit me today."

"Oh... Well I'm sorry."

"I-it's not your fault, i'm a little better now though."

She walked up to him and gave him a short hug.

Atom smiled.

She smiled back and walked over to the hallway. "You can help yourself to whatever." She said before walking down the hallway.

Atom nodded.

He sighed and walked down the hallway to Astro's room.

Atom gently knocked on the door.

"COME IN!" Astro yelled.

Atom opened the door and walked

Inside.

"Oh, it's _you_." Astro said.

"I'm not in the mood." Atom sounded annoyed.

"Haha, I'm just playing with you, come sit on the bed of awesomeness." Astro pointed to his bed.

Atom walked over to it and sat down.

"Woah, this is all soft and squishy." Atom giggled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you sleep on a hard mattress."

"Yeah, keeps my back straight though."

Astro spun around in his office chair a few times before getting dizzy

"Wooo! Nothing like spinning in a chair to make you go dizzy!"

Atom sighed.

"You OK there?" Astro asked.

"Yeah." Atom nodded.

Astro got up from his chair and sat next to Atom on his bed.

"Don't worry Atom, Tenma and I are going to fix things right and help you through this and make sure Elefun gets what he deserves, so if he needs to be put in the slammer, he'll be put in the slammer. And if you have to be taken away and placed elsewhere, you will be taken away and placed elsewhere and we're gonna be right by your side through the whole thing."

Astro sighed.

"Look, if there's anyone that knows about pain, it's me, it's something I have to deal with all the time, yeah sure, i'm not as bad as I used to be, but I still have my moments and my flaws, but I keep going, and you shouldn't let this be the end of your story, because you have a lot left to write."

Atom covered his face to hide his tears as Astro put his arms around him.

((END OF CHAPTER FOUR!))


	5. The Kids Aren't Alright

_"And in the end,_ _I'd do it all again,_ _I think you're my best friend._ _Don't you know that the kids aren't all, kids aren't alright,_ _I'll be yours, w_ _hen it rains it pours._ _Stay thirsty like before._ _Don't you know that the kids aren't all, kids aren't alright"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Five: The Kids Aren't Alright

The next morning, Atom was sleeping on the couch in the living room where the TV was playing a random channel.

He yawned and rubbed his eye before stretching.

"Woo, you know this couch isn't so bad…." Atom thought out loud.

He got up and walked over to where the table was and sat down, similar to what he did every morning at Elefun's.

"Oh so now you think cuz your a guest you get to copy my daily routine?" Astro said to Atom as he walked out of the hallway.

"No, I always go out to the table in the morning at Elefun's." Atom replied.

"Pffft, copy-cat."

"So where's everyone else?" Atom asked.

"Oh, they get up later now since the human devil keeps them up all night….."

The two of them heard footsteps coming from the hallway.

"Or not…." Astro sat down in a chair next to Atom.

"Sups." Astro greeted to the person walking in.

"Good morning." Cindy greeted with a smile.

"Oh it's yo-"

"Morning!" Atom cut Astro off.

"You two want anything to eat?" She asked as she walked to the fridge.

"Can I skip eating for like a while so I can prove the government wrong in the assumption robots eat a 'well balanced diet'?"

"No."

"Dangit." Astro folded his arms.

"I'll have cereal." Atom added.

"Alright. Cereal it is." She took out the milk carton.

"Pfffft cereal, talk about Plain Jane…"

"Here you go." She placed two bowls of cereal in front of the twins.

Astro pushed his bowl aside as opposed to Atom who immediately picked up his spoon and began eating.

"Eat your food, Astro."

"No." He said in an almost inaudible voice.

"Yes." She moved the bowl in front of him again.

Astro pushed it aside again. "No."

"Don't be a baby."

"I'm not being a baby, I just don't wanna eat."

Cindy tapped her foot impatiently.

Astro pushed the bowl even further and put his head down.

"... Fine…." She picked up the bowl and started eating the cereal. "Guess I have to eat your breakfast... _again_."

"Yup, how wonderful."

After a few minutes had gone by, Atom got up from his chair and took his empty bowl and spoon to the sink where he washed it and set it aside since he didn't know where they put their plates and silverware.

He walked back into the living room and sat back down on the couch.

Astro lifted his head up.

"You don't think there's anything strangely odd about him, do you?"

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"I dunno, he just doesn't seem like the same Atom, he doesn't even seem similar to how he was when you gave birth…."

"Hmmm."

"He needs to probably get checked out, though I'm not sure if he's gonna be okay with being hooked up to a million and one things with a loud scanner moving back and forth….."

"He seems fine to me. Just a little down."

"Hmmmmm, whatever you say… _you're_ the expert."

"I'm not an _expert_ but I do know he's fine physically. Your father told me everything that happened. He just needs some time to recover from all of it."

"Pffft, what a snitch…."

"It's my business to know too, Astro."

Astro sighed "I know….."

"I just hope Elefun gets what he deserves so this can all fly by and we can go back to our normal lives again."

"Mmmm." Cindy looked down into her empty cereal bowl with an almost sad look on her face.

"It's funny _you_ managed to get up before Citizen did."

"Oh. Well since he left me with the baby all day yesterday, I gave him night duty. Best night of sleep I've had in months." She looked at Astro and smirked.

Astro laughed.

"I'm hoping we're not doing anything today."

"Nope."

"Yay!"

Cindy chuckled.

After several hours went by, Atom was still sitting on the couch, this time though, he had just woken up from a nap and was flipping through the channels.

Someone had walked into the living room.

Atom didn't say a word.

They sat next to him on the couch.

Atom continued to look through the channels, not saying a word to them.

"Hello." Tenma looked over at Atom and greeted.

Atom didn't respond.

He poked his shoulder.

Atom looked at him briefly and then resumed to looking through the many channels on TV.

"Hmmm." Tenma stood up and walked into the other room.

Atom finally settled on a channel and sighed as he leaned back on the couch and set the remote down.

Tenma came back into the room with Millie in his arms. He sat on the couch and sat her on his lap.

Atom looked over at the two of them and turned back to face the TV again.

The baby let out a little high-pitched giggle. Tenma laughed.

Atom couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Look who it is, Atom. It's little Millie!" The baby giggled again when her father said her name.

Atom looked over at her and smiled.

"She's such a giggly little baby!" Tenma said in a silly voice.

Atom laughed.

Millie made a strange sounding cackle then giggled at her own funny noise.

Astro walked into the room.

"Are we seriously doing that today? You know I was _for once_ expecting to have a calm day with no baby crap and then I hear this on my way out of the bathroom, like seesh!"

"Oh. Come on. She's has the cutest little laugh." Tenma walked up to Astro with the baby.

"Just look at this little bundle of adorableness." He held her up to Astro's face as she giggled uncontrollably.

"I don't like you." Astro said with a straight face.

Millie reached out and grabbed Astro's nose.

"Ahh! No!" Astro tried moving backwards.

She moved her little hands and grabbed some of his hair.

Astro gave up and stood there with an 'i'm so done' face.

Tenma laughed.

"Alright. Let go." He pried the baby's hands off of Astro's hair.

Atom lowered the volume on the TV and decided to go and take another nap.

"So where's Atom?" Astro asked.

"On the couch."

"Cool, hope he doesn't die of boredom, be terrible if he just,  
I dunno, died after being _super_ bored…. it would be _such a shame_." Astro said as he shook his head and wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"Well maybe you can do something with your brother to keep him from being bored."

"Nope." Astro walked away laughing.

Millie made a little raspberry noise at Astro.

"Haha. Same." Tenma chuckled.

Atom sighed as he stared at the ceiling.

Tenma sat back down next to him.

Atom reached over and grabbed the remote again to change the channel.

Millie giggled at some of the things on the TV.

Atom gave up and sighed again, switching over so he could lie down on his side.

"You alright?" Tenma asked.

All Atom did was slightly nod.

"Hmm." Tenma looked at the TV.

"N-nothing." Atom whispered, bringing his knees up closer to his chest.

"Atom?"

Atom didn't respond. ((I think Atom is just going through some crazy ish on the inside and doesn't want it to be seen on the outside, but i'll let you decided on that….. ~Emily))

"What hurt you the most about all that happened?"

Atom sighed and closed his eyes tightly.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

Atom looked over at Tenma.

"I-I don't know…" He whispered.

Tenma looked over at him.

Atom looked back at him trying to hide the look on internal pain in his eyes.

Millie reached out to Atom, making babbling noises.

Atom chuckled.

She leaned far enough so that her little hand touched Atom's arm.

"Ah." Atom moved his arm away from her.

Tenma chuckled. "Don't worry. She doesn't bite."

"I know." Atom looked back at the TV.

He couldn't help but look like he was gonna sob again, but he just picked up the remote and turned up the volume a smidge.

Cindy walked into the room.

"Oh my goodness. Look at that silly baby." She walked up to Tenma. He handed her Millie and she giggled as Cindy cooed at her.

Atom closed his eyes.

"Is he…. umm?" Cindy whispered to Tenma after looking over at Atom.

Tenma shook his head slowly.

Atom had planned on getting up and leaving, but ended up stay right where he was instead.

She looked back at Atom.

"You can try." Tenma whispered and shrugged.

"Mmm."

Tenma moved over and she sat between him and Atom.

Atom moved over to his other side to face the couch.

"You wanna talk about it?" Cindy asked him.

Atom didn't respond.

"Venting might help."

He sighed and shook his head.

"Hmm. Ok."

Atom got up and left the living room.

Cindy sighed.

"Well we tried." Tenma shrugged.

"Looks like the grim reaper paid us a visit." Astro said as he walked back into the living room.

Cindy and Tenma just looked at him in silence, cut off by a few noises from the baby.

"Oh, is it past my sarcasm's curfew?" Astro asked.

"Yeah." Tenma nodded.

"Sarcasm go to bed! noooooooo. GO TO BED!"

Millie giggled again.

"But no seriously, this is like the worst Atom i've seen in ages! And i've seen quite a lot of Atoms and even lived with some at one point…." ((When he refers to 'quite a lot of Atoms' he talking about how Atom's personality and behavior changes drastically all the time, almost like he becomes an entirely new person… ~Emily))

"You think there's anything we can do?" Cindy asked.

"i'm afraid I can't help you there, i'm no Gil…" ((For those who maybe didn't read "Two Halves of the Same Heart, Gil was Astro's therapist ~Emily))

"Well, how did we deal with your problems?" Tenma looked back up at Astro.

"You told me to shut up, haha just kidding, I don't even know…"

"...We tried our best to show you as much love as possible."

"Oh yeah, that's probably why I didn't remember….."

"Well you turned out… OK? Pretty much. So we'll just try and do that same for Atom."

"May be a little more difficult since he hides his feelings a lot more than you do."

"You have a point, probably gonna be an even bigger challenge to crack his shell open and try to fix things…."

Tenma nodded. "We'll just have to give it time."

"Well i'd hurry it up because at this pace, you won't have any sometime soon."

After another few hours went by and it was getting close to dinnertime, Atom was back in the living room, this time the TV was off and he was just staring at the ceiling with a million and one thoughts cluttering his mind, not to mention a pain that never seemed to go away that bugged and picked at Atom the whole time, making it hard for him to even find enjoyment in the little things that made him smile.

He sighed.

"Is this what it means to be sad?" Atom whispered.

Astro walked in to call Atom over for dinner, in which Atom got up and walked to the table without saying a word.

Atom sighed when he sat down in his chair and held his head up with his arm and his hand pressing against his cheek.

"So uhhh, you know what's for diner?" Astro asked Atom, trying to pick up a conversation with him.

Atom shook his head

"OK I give up." Astro said to Tenma and Cindy who were in the kitchen.

"Can't. Keep. A. Stupid. Conversation!"

The two of them walked to the table.

"Do you know what's for dinner _now_?" Astro tried asking again, in which Atom shook his head as a response.

Astro sighed.

"Well I tried…." he said.

"Atom, sweetie, you can't be like this forever." Cindy rubbed Atom's back as Tenma sat in his seat.

Atom stared at the table, still not saying a word.

Cindy sighed and sat in her seat.

"OK, you must know what's for dinner _now_ , right?"

Atom shook his head again.

"Damnit! Can someone just tell him so he can answer me?!"

"Salad."

"Ok then Atom, do you know what's for dinner _now_?"

Atom shrugged.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE EFFING WITH ME OH MY EFFING GAWD!"

Atom put his head down on the table, not wanting to talk to anyone.

"So uh, how's it going?" Astro seemed to not like the silence.

"Uh. Fine I guess." Cindy looked around at the others.

"And how about you, Citizen?"

"Same." He yawned then rested his head on his hand.

"And how about you, Mister Atom sir?"

Atom didn't respond.

"And how about you, Mister Atom sir?" Astro repeated.

Again, Atom didn't respond.

"Atom?" Cindy placed her hand on his shoulder.

"He's getting worse." Astro said.

"Atom. Look at me. Right now." She gently shook him a little.

Atom slowly lifted his head.

"We're going to talk about this."

"And we're going to do it right now"

Atom sighed.

"Well?"

"I dunno." Atom shrugged.

"Just tell us what's been going on in your head."

"Well, I'm not sure. At least not anymore…"

"Well... What's been bothering you?"

"Everything."

"Nothing specific?"

"Not really…"

"Is there anything you've been holding in that you need to let out?"

Atom sighed and shook his head.

"You sure?"

He nodded.

"Then what's making you like this?"

Atom shrugged.

Cindy sighed and looked over at Tenma. He turned and looked back at her before looking back over at Atom.

"You're lying. There is something. You just don't want to tell us." He said.

Atom's eyes slowly trailed to the table.

"Just tell us Atom. We already know something's wrong. There's no use hiding it anymore."

Atom slowly shook his head before resting his head in his hand, continuing to stare at the table.

"Atom... I don't like pressuring you like this, but it isn't healthy for you to do this."

" _Nothing's healthy_ according to Elefun." Atom muttered in a mocking tone.

"Elefun doesn't know any better."

"Well maybe that's why I hurt so bad….."

"The old man's starting to lose it. That's not your fault."

"Well it kinda is, considering I'm not helping it."

"You didn't do anything worth making him worse."

"I'm crazy." Atom finally spoke in a normal voice.

"You're not crazy."

"Yeah, we can't have _two_ crazy people in the family!" Astro butted in.

"... Atom. Of all people, _I_ would know what it is to be crazy."

"Well I don't mean _that_ kind of crazy."

"I know what crazy you're talking about and you're not crazy."

"Then….. then what am I?"

"I could tell you if you told me what's been keeping you so down."

"Everything."

"But why?"

"Wish I knew."

Tenma sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand.

Atom sighed back.

"You do know we're trying to do this so we can help you and you can be happy?"

Atom nodded.

"Do you _want_ to be happy?"

Atom sat frozen and tried to mask his tears and sudden pain, he nodded.

"Then you're going to have to cooperate."

Astro got up from the table and walked to the fridge.

Atom didn't say a word.

"Atom. If you want to be happy, you can't be so difficult with answering our questions." Cindy glanced over at Astro then looked back at Atom.

Atom put his head down and let a few tears escape.

She reached her hand out and gently rubbed the back of his head.

Astro sat back down in his seat and sighed.

"There's no use, can't convince the kid to spill the beans when he won't even give you the can….."

"Just give him time." Tenma looked at Astro.

"Well then we're gonna be here for a while."

"So then I was like ' I ain't gonna take none of your BS!' and I got all mad and like stressed out, like I'm seriously hoping the media will forget me and I can go back to sitting around on my lazy butt and doing nothing."

"Well no, it's not that I hate the attention, but no one gives you any respect, it's ridiculous! And I clearly said I didn't wanna name names and they literally just ignored me and pressured me to say who it was!"

Atom laughed.

"No no, you could never do it, you'd probably faint on the scene and your mom would sue everyone and their uncle, or maybe just find another way to embarrass you."

It was after dinner and Atom was back in the living room talking to Stephen on the phone. Someone walked in.

"Oh. Who are you talking to, Atom?"

"Hey look, it's Cindy, you wanna say hi? No Stephen it's _Cindy_ …."

"What? No she's not my new sibling….. were you even listening when I told you. No Stephen, Supah Mario is not an excuse….."

"Do you wanna say hi or no- no she's not scary, at least I hope not…."

"Ugh, it's a simple question, why do you have to make it so complicated, do you wanna say hi or no? No? Is that a 'no' I hear my friend?" Atom chuckled.

"Stephen says hi." Atom said to Cindy.

"Tell him I said hi back." She smiled.

"She says hi… hmmmm yes, yes I see, uh huh…. oh that's sad to hear, guess you better learn how to take better care of fish…"

"Pffft, seriously, he seemed like a nice goldfish, I'm sure he didn't mean harm."

"Pffft lucky, no ones walks in and offers _me_ cookies."

"Hmm." Cindy walked back into the kitchen.

"Well I mean yeah, I could make them myself but it's just too much work, and if it's only for me, what's the point?"

"Pfft worrying about sugar, you _need_ sugar, and some sunlight too, just in case no one mistakes you for snow in the winter." Atom yawned.

"What? No i'm not tired, you don't make me tired in fact talking to you keeps me awake."

"When can I come over? Ummmmm, i'm not sure, but you can haul your lazy butt over here if you're desperate."

"So what, _I_ can't drive either and yet _I_ still visit you…."

"Well yeah, but we're not adults yet so what's the point? Things change pretty quick throughout the years."

Cindy walked back in with a plate in her hand.

"Haha, _if_ we ever did, I'd probably want it like decked out with things from the past and our cake would be all 'back in the day' style."

"Hmmm, I wonder who we'd invite….."

Atom turned around as he heard footsteps approach him.

"Hi Cindy! Woah, did you make those cookies?"

"Mmmhmm!" She nodded with a smile

"Wow, they look awesome! Wish I could make cookies that looked that well…"

"Aww. Thank you! You want some?"

Atom gasped.

"Stephen, someone's actually offering me cookies! Eeek! Don't mind if I do." Atom squealed before picking up a cookie off the plate and taking a bite of it.

Cindy sat down next to Atom, setting the plate down on the coffee table and taking one herself.

"So how's it going so far?" Atom asked.

"Oh yeah, where is she anyways?"

" _I dunno, I think she was gonna go to the store….."_ Stephen looked out the window.

" _Wait? Did she leave already? Are you fricking kidding me, she just leaves and doesn't tell me?! Are you seriously kidding? She just left. Gee thanks mom…."_

Atom chuckled.

The two of them spoke for a few more minutes before Atom hung up the phone and sighed with admiration.

Later on, Atom was lying in bed with a blanket covering him and a sound of yet another set of footsteps making it's way into the living room.

"Atom?" The voice asked.

"Yeah?" Atom sat up and replied.

Tenma walked into the room and smiled when he saw Atom.

Atom smiled back at him.

"Goodnight." Tenma said as he turned to walked back down the hall.

"Night, Da- I mean Tenma, _dangit._ " Atom sounded slightly annoyed and disappointed when he made his mistake.

"Hmm?" Tenma looked back for a moment with a confused look on his face.

"Uhhhhhhhh." Atom blinked.

Tenma shrugged and walked back to his room.

Atom sighed.

"You just _had_ to make the same mistake again, huh?" He muttered to himself.

Atom crawled under the covers and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

The next morning, Atom by surprise was the last one to wake up, he sat on the couch most of the time, feeling extremely bored.

He sighed and got up from the couch.

Atom was about to go somewhere, but suddenly changed his mind and sat back down on the couch again.

"Has he literally been sleeping all morning?" Astro asked.

"I guess so." Tenma answered, looking through the newspaper in front of him.

"You think I should go wake him up?"

"If you want."

"Hmmmm, it's just not the same anymore…"

"What's not the same?"

"Well, I mean look at him, he's a total wreck! He's like completely let himself go and just kinda went downhill, I'm surprised no one else is even seeing this!"

"We are. He just went through a lot lately. And he doesn't recover as fast as you may think he does. Especially not after what happened."

"Well I'd hate to be a buzzkill but…" Astro lowered his voice to a whisper.

"At this point we can't do shit."

"I know."

"No I mean like we really can't, like trying isn't even an option here, we just kinda have to sit back and watch."

"I know. He has his internal conflict he needs to work through right now. It's best not to touch on the subject anymore with him. He needs time to sort things out in his head."

"Trust me, that's gonna take a few years, i'm still doing it now…."

"It could take nearly a lifetime..."

"I just don't know how he got into this tight space to begin with…"

"Little things you can't see can add up and when the final big blow hits, it can break everything down."

Astro looked away for a moment.

"It might be best if we just put him out of his misery before he drowns in it."

"Don't be ridiculous Astro."

"I'm being serious, Tenma, eventually he'll reach a point where shit just won't affect him and he'll be gone in a flash…."

"You know I would never do such a thing." Tenma looked up at Astro.

"Mine as well before Elefun beats you to it."

"Perhaps it would be best for _you_ to stop thinking of the worst outcomes. There are other ways. Let's not jump to such horrific conclusions."

"I'm only saying the truth, I know this, if Elefun doesn't get in trouble and Atom goes back home, he'll be gone, Elefun will want nothing to do with him after he just put him in the hot seat, _or_ he could make his life a living hell and then when he becomes an adult…. well…. _then_ , um…. I guess we um, we applaud him for um, not being dead? I dunno." Astro shrugged.

"I wouldn't let Atom walk himself into a situation like that."

"Well we can't steer him away from it either, eventually he's gonna feel bad and wanna go back to visit, and then he'll be like 'oh shit!' and not return."

"I'm not letting him anywhere near Elefun. Not how he is right now."

"Well he's gonna have to go home _someday_ …"

Tenma sighed. "Let's take things one step at a time, shall we?"

"Well, I guess we have a lifetime goal on our hands, huh?" Astro looked at Tenma and chuckled.

"It may not last that long. We'll just have to see how things play out."

Atom got up from the couch and left the living room where he walked into the kitchen to get a small glass of water and walk back out into the living room.

"Atom?" Astro called out.

Atom looked at Astro for a moment.

"Don't you wanna come and sit with us?" Astro offered the seat next to him.

Atom just turned around and kept walking.

Astro sighed.

"Well, you can't say I didn't try…"

"Just give him time."

"... _Fine_ …"

Atom slowly sat back down on the couch and sniffled before setting his cup down and putting a pillow over his head to hide his tears.

((END OF CHAPTER FIVE!))


	6. Photograph

_"Loving can hurt, l_ _oving can hurt sometimes._ _But it's the only thing that I know"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Six: Photograph

After a while as the day went on, no one really seemed to notice Atom, he was just a thing that took up space on the couch and occasionally cried a little.

Atom had realized he hit his lowest low when after a while, everything settled in and he didn't even notice how bad it was anymore.

He just knew it was bad and kept going on.

Astro walked in and sat down on the couch, changing the channel.

"I was watching that." Atom muttered.

"Hmm?" Astro looked over at him.

Atom sighed and shook his head.

"Oh well." Astro shrugged.

Atom got up and walked to the table for the sole purpose of wanting to be alone.

"Atom, you seriously need to stop acting like a four year old." He muttered to himself.

"I can be a four year old all I want, me, and there's nothing I can do about it." Atom responded.

"Well you're moaping around and ignoring everyone, you need to get your act together, what ever happened to the simple things in life that made you smile? What happened to the stupid puns that made your face red and die of laughter? What happened to Atom?"

Atom stared at the wall and broke down into tears.

"I-I… I'm right."

"I-I can't do this anymore!" He stood up and headed for the door.

Astro turned around at the sound of a door opening and closing.

"Atom? You there?" Astro called out.

No response.

"Atom? Holy shit… ATOM?" Astro got up from the couch.

"You guys see Atom?" Astro asked.

Tenma came up from the basement.

"No. Why?"

"I thought I heard the front door open and close."

Tenma walked into the living room and looked at the door.

"You think he left?" He looked over at Astro.

"Not sure."

"You go check the rest of the house, I'll go outside and see if he or anyone else is out there."

"Yup." Astro walked away.

Tenma put on his shoes, then opened and walked throughthe front door.

"Nope, I don't see him anywhere." Astro said when he walked out the door and spotted Tenma.

Tenma waited for Astro to catch up with him.

"You think he might have flown off somewhere?"

"Well I don't see him anywhere on the street, so he must have."

"Welp, kiss the poor soul goodbye, it was fun while it lasted." Astro turned around to head back inside.

Tenma pulled out his cellphone and called Atom's number as he followed Astro.

There was a noise coming from the couch in the living room, sounding similar to a cell ringtone.

"Ooo, I wonder who's calling." Astro said as he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Astro asked.

Tenma looked at the phone in Astro's hand.

"Oh no."

"Well that was stupid, wasn't it?"

Tenma hung up his phone.

"Should we go look for him?"

"I dunno, do you _wanna_ look for him?"

"We're going to go look for him." Tenma turned around and opened up the door again.

"Alrighty, road trip!" Astro chuckled.

Tenma got in his car. Astro followed along and got in the passengers seat.

"So where do you wanna check first?"

"Wherever his first instinct to go is."

"Well what do you think that would be?"

"Think about it, Astro. Who would be someone he'd want to see right now?"

"Hmmmmm, no one."

"Think harder Astro. It isn't that hard."

"Well, I don't know, he could really have gone anywhere."

Tenma sighed.

"As long as he's not at Elefun's he should be fine and come home soon."

"So then why are we even looking for him then?"

"Let's go to check Elefun's at least. I can't believe I let you scare me into thinking he's going to kill him in a second..."

Astro couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Tenma rolled his eyes and backed out of the driveway.

They drove away off to Elefun's.

Tenma pulled into the driveway and got out, quickly walking up to the door.

Astro caught up to him after getting out of the car.

He knocked on the door.

After a few moments, Elefun made his way to the door and slowly opened it, peeking outside to see who it was.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Elefun! My old friend! How nice to see you! Now not to waste your time, but I was wondering if Atom was here." Tenma greeted with a smile.

"Atom? Atom, Atom….. Nope, no sign of Atom here! Probably shouldn't come anyways if he- he's just not here OK…."

"Yup. Good. Thanks. Bye."

"Yup." Elefun quickly closed the door.

"Geez, well that couldn't have gone better, oh wait, it could have!" Astro said before laughing at his own joke.

"At least we know he isn't here." Tenma turned around, the smile on his face now gone.

"Yup, so where else do you think he could be?"

"Not sure." He started walking back to the car.

"Same." Astro got inside the passenger's seat again after walking to the car behind Tenma.

Tenma started the car again.

"You don't think he went downtown, do you?" Astro asked.

"Hmmmm. Well let's just go check."

"Hmmm yes, yes we should, while we listen to music for the road." Astro turned the radio on, still playing the same station that played not too many days ago.

"We're not listening to _that_." Tenma changed the station.

"Well it was nice while it lasted….."

After sometime driving, Tenma and Astro made it downtown.

"Okay, so maybe if we park by the pizza place we can just walk the rest of downtown and look for Atom." Astro said as he looked over at Tenma.

Tenma nodded and drove up to the pizza place, pulling into the driveway and parking.

They both got out of the car and walked to the sidewalk.

"So any ideas on which place to check first?" Astro asked.

"Well, where's somewhere close to here that he'd go."

"I dunno, I'm not Atom, how should I know?" Astro shrugged.

Tenma sighed.

"Let's just walk around and maybe check the park once we get to it."

"Okie dokie."

After walking a while, Atom sat himself down on the grass and let out a small sigh.

The sun was getting a little too bright, Atom didn't really seem to mind though.

"Well?" Atom began.

"What do you mean _well_?"

"I dunno." Atom shrugged and let out a chuckle.

He looked around him for a moment, then up at the sky.

"It's actually quite nice out today, should've gotten my camera, these…. would have been _amazing_ shots…" Atom yawned.

He leaned back to lie down on his backside and let out a smile.

"Okay, so he wasn't at Starbuck, wasn't getting pizza or icecream, and he wasn't shopping for anything, are we missing anywhere else?" Astro asked, looking at Tenma.

"We still have the park, remember?" He looked back at him.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well then we better get going."

They walked into the park and started looking around.

"Hmm, I don't see him, maybe he's just not downtown…"

"We might need a faster way to cover the rest of the park."

"Yeah, this place is pretty huge."

"Think you can fly around real qui-"

"Nope." Astro quickly walked away from Tenma.

"What the frick frack diddly dack patty wack snick snack crack pack slap knack quarterback crackerjack biofeedback backtrack thumbtack sidetrack tic tac does he think he is doing?" (( _Tenma pls_ …. ~Emily))

((based on a tumblr audio post by shermansgallifreyan (look up 'what GLaDOS thinking' or something) ~Kait))

"Nope. Nope. NOPE. My days of flying and acting like a robot are OVER!"

"But you are a robot…."

"Pfft no, i am making myself more human, the laws of robotics can suck my ass!"

"This has nothing to do with the laws…."

"So what? Even better for me!"

"Guess we'll just have to wait for Atom to come home then."

"Yup." Astro turned around as if he was leaving the park.

Tenma also turned to the gate and began walking..

"Well that was a waste of time, wasn't it."

"You're the one wasting time. We could easily be in and out of here, Atom or not, if you would just go around and look real quick."

"Pfft, you know I don't fly anymore, I just walk, it's a lot less stress and doesn't drag so much attention."

"You could do it this one time. For your brother."

"Hmmmmm, lemme think about it for a while…" Astro said with a bit of sarcasm, hinting that he either wasn't gonna think about it at all, or just eventually say no.

Tenma waited for a response.

Astro kept walking without a care in the world.

Tenma sighed again and followed Astro.

They soon made it back to where Tenma had parked his car.

Astro walked up the car and waited for the doors to unlock.

"Well?" Astro looked at Tenma, waiting for him to unlock his car.

"Hmmm. I dunno. Maybe we can just _walk_ home."

"Sure, see you there." Astro started walking away.

Tenma sighed. "Get in the car."

"What? I thought we were walking?"

"Just get in the car."

Astro sighed. "Fine."

They sat in the car for a moment before Tenma asked Astro to open the glove compartment.

"Why?"

"Ugh. Why must I do everything?..." Tenma reached over and opened it, pulling out what looked like a tablet but also distinctly different.

"I really didn't want to do this, but I'm tired of having to always search for you two..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to use this." Tenma turned on the strange tablet.

"Oooo, fancy technology, bet people back in like 2015 didn't have that shit."

"Nope. They didn't."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were alive during that year, aw gawd, no no, fetus Tenma is not appealing!"

"I was 17!"

"Nuuuu." Astro has a look of disgust on his face as he tried to get images out of his head.

"Why? What's so bad about me actually being young?"

"Uhhhhhh…..NOPE."

"I was a kid once, you know. I wasn't always 'old'."

"But I didn't even say you were old."

"You've called me old before..."

"So?"

"...Anyways…." Tenma touched a few icons on the touchscreen.

"So how's that gonna find Atom? What if it's by name and there's like _another_ Atom and not the Atom we're looking for and we find the other Atom instead."

"No. This is an Electromagnetic Locational Receiver."

"So what, is it a 'robots only' thing?"

"Well, anything that runs on electricity or any energy for that matter this will pick up."

"So it _is_ a 'robots only' thing."

"No. Humans have energy, too. Just not the same kind as you. That makes this a _little_ harder to use on humans."

"Ahhhh, I see…"

"If I turn it to the right voltage, it should be able to find Atom but also not short out any nearby electrical units or be noticed by the police."

"Pffft yeah, don't want no old fart Tawashi coming over here and like ranting at us for hours on end…."

"Getting arrested isn't fun either."

"Yeah, also Brianna finds it a major turn-off."

"... Oh. That should be him. He _was_ in the park."

"Wow, well, maybe it's a sign we _both_ need to visit the eye doctor."

" _Or_ you insisted on leaving when if we had just gone a few more minutes, we would have found him."

" _Orrrrr_ He was too fucking far away and I _don't_ feel like flying at all….."

"It's not my fault you were being lazy and inconsiderate."

"Oh yeah _sure_ let my _father_ tell me _it wasn't his fault_ my _**father**_. The one that _raises me._ " Astro slowly nodded his head.

"I didn't raise you to be like that."

"Well I am, and there's nothing you can do besides take the blame..."

"I _have_ been taking the blame."

"But you just- Bah! Nevermind… let's just go get Atom."

Tenma turned off the device and put it back in the glove compartment.

Astro sluggishly opened the door and got out of the car after unclicking his seatbelt.

Tenma and him walked back into the park.

"ATTTOOOOOOOOM YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE BECAUSE I DON'T FEEL LIKE WALKING ALL THE WAY TO WHEREVER THE FUCK YOU ARE!" Astro called out.

"Shush. We're not even close. Don't go about yelling like your a crazy person when there's a ton of people around."

"No no, trust me, screaming in public is my specialty. ATOO-"

Tenma put his hand over Astro's mouth.

"AT- AT- AT-" Astro's voice sounded muffled.

"He's right down that trail there. So shut up." Tenma pointed to the entrance of a forest trail in the distance.

"But I don't see him."

"Of course you don't. It's surrounded by trees. You won't see him until we walk down there."

"Oh, well that makes sense."

Tenma took his hand away.

Atom yawned for like the third time since he sat down on the grass.

"Hmmmm, I'm tired. Maybe i'll just go- no, I think i'm just gonna call it quits here." Atom said before closing his eyes and getting into a sleeping position, slowly falling asleep.

"Wooo, should've brought a water bottle or something, the suns really beating down on me…" Astro complained.

"We're almost in the shade. Just hang in there."

Astro nodded.

The two of them kept walking until they saw something weird lying in the grass.

They made their way up to it.

Atom was lying on the ground with his eyes closed, fast asleep with one hand gently folded into a fist and resting on the grass while the other rested on his stomach.

He yawned and let out a sigh as he adjusted his head position.

"Hmmm, looks like he fell asleep." Astro said.

Tenma let out a sigh of relief.

"So are we gonna wake him up? Because I know I'm not carrying him…."

"No. Just let him be for now." Tenma sat down in the grass besides Atom. "Hmmm. He found a great spot. It's so peaceful here."

"Yeah." Astro sat down next to him.

Astro got close to Tenma and rested his head on his shoulder.

Tenma closed his eyes when the sun shining brightly into them became slightly uncomfortable.

Atom yawned again.

Soon both Tenma and Astro fell asleep on the soft, warm grass.

After a while though, Atom woke up and rubbed his eye as he slowly sat up.

"Hmmm?" Atom looked around him and soon saw Tenma and Astro lying beside him.

"Oh, w-what are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"Huh?" Tenma sat up and slowly opened his eyes, covering them with his hand to shield them from the sun.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up D- TENMA, Tenma, yes…."

"It's alright." He yawned.

"So what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh. We were looking for you."

"Oh…."

Tenma stood up.

Atom looked over at his twin and chuckled.

He then looked up at Tenma with a childish smile.

Tenma smiled back.

Atom's smile though faded when a thought slipped into his mind, causing him to sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm just thinking…."

"Hmm."

"I mean, I referred to him as Professor because he told me to, otherwise I would have called him something else, and now I keep making this stupid mistake that's driving me _nuts_!"

Tenma seemed confused for a moment.

"Because I can't seem to name people right, because you're Tenma, not Sir-Poops-A-Lot, not Professor, not Dad, just _Tenma_ , and I'm like really screwing up here….."

Tenma placed his hand on Atom's shoulder.

"You can call me whatever you want."

"Really?" Atom looked up at him.

"Mmmhmm." Tenma nodded with a smile.

"I dunno, I just don't seem worthy enough, I mean, I can understand Astro, but what am I? Just some dumb last minute experiment done on a weekend! What kind of worth does that give me…."

Tenma place his other hand on Atom's other shoulder.

"Atom. You are no lesser a person than Astro. You're just as important to me and everyone else as he is."

Atom sighed with a smile as he put his arms around Tenma.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Tenma held Atom tightly.

Atom chuckled.

Tenma let go and held Atom by his shoulders again.

"Don't go anywhere without telling us again. Ok?"

"Mmmhmm." Atom nodded.

Tenma smiled again.

Atom turned around and walked up to Astro where he gently picked him up and started heading out.

Tenma followed him.

"So where are we going after this?" Atom asked.

"Home."

"Cool!" Atom exclaimed.

Tenma chuckled as they walked back to the car.

"Astro can take the backseat since it's more comfy than upfront." Atom said as he opened the car door and set Astro down.

"And I'll sit upfront." Atom walked to the passengers door and opened it, getting in the car.

Tenma looked at the clock on his phone.

"Oh dear lord. I didn't think we fell asleep for that long."

He grunted and held his head in his hands for a moment before looking back up at the steering wheel.

"So what's the rush?"

"The rush is I have a little ball of fury and sass waiting at home because I entirely forgot to tell her we were leaving."

"Oh…. well it can't be that bad!" Atom tried to lighten up the situation.

"Well last time I had to go, I told her. I can't believe I forgot. She's gonna kick my ass."

"Aw, poor Tenma…."

He sighed.

"I'm just going to have to face the consequences…." Tenma started up the car and drove back home.

Atom lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Wow, Astro's still asleep, he must be a really heavy sleeper."

"Occasionally."

"Is it bad if I admit he looks adorable when he sleeps." ((No, not at all Atom…. ~Emily))

"No." Tenma laughed.

"I dunno, I just find a lot of things cute and adorable, like Kaitlyn and Brandon, and you and Cindy, and small animals, the list goes on and on."

Tenma smiled. "I've heard some people say you're cute."

"Haha, I know, I get that sometimes." Atom tried not to blush, but did anyways.

"Ah! No no, not the blushies…" Atom covered his face as he giggled.

Soon they made it back home.

Atom got out of the car and went to pick Astro up and carry him inside.

Atom opened the car door to see Astro had just woken up.

Atom smiled and leaned closer so he could put his arms around Astro and carry him.

"Try to carry me and I'll kill you."

Atom drew back for a moment and just reached his arm out to him.

"No." Astro swatted Atom's arms away.

Atom tried again.

"No. Go away."

Atom tried a few more times before getting in the car and sitting next to Astro.

"Whyyyyyyy." Astro complained.

"Because I love you and I wanna be nice even though you treat me like shit." Atom reached his hand over and gently rubbed Astro's head.

Astro glared over at Atom before getting out on the other side of the car.

Atom soon got out as well and walked inside the house.

Tenma waited by the door for them to walk in. After they made it inside, he walked in himself then closed the door behind him.

"Well Astro was a bit stubborn, but I got him to come inside." Atom said to Tenma.

"Hmm. I'm sure he would have come in eventually by himself." He responded as he looked cautiously around the room and down the hall.

"I know, but he wouldn't let me carry him, what a shame…."

"He's probably grumpy from his nap." Tenma looked down at Atom and chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Astro walked into the area.

"Are you grumpy?" Atom asked him.

"Yeah. Whatever." He walked into the kitchen.

"Aww, poor grumpy Astro…." Atom walked in behind him.

Tenma turned around and was about to follow them before he was stopped by an almost familiar tapping noise.

"How does she do that?" He whispered to himself before turning back around to see Cindy a few feet away from him.

With her arms crossed and brow furrowed, she tapped her foot on the floor in nearly perfect rhythm.

"Ahaha." Tenma chuckled nervously. "Good evening, dear."

"Umataro Tenma. What have I told you about leaving and not telling me. Especially when it's been 5 hours!"

"Haha. I'm sorry, honey. I forgot and it was a bit of an emergency…."

"This is the last time, Bill." She walked up and poked the center of his chest, moving him back a step.

"Y-yes, Cindy." He looked down at the floor.

"Hmph." She turned and began to walk down the hall.

Tenma took a step towards her.

"You're not sleeping in our room tonight." She looked back.

"But…. But Atom's sleeping on the couch…."

"You can sleep on the kitchen floor." She continued down the hallway.

He covered his forehead with his hand and slumped over to the kitchen.

Atom got close behind Astro and put his arms around him.

"Don't be so grumpy, Astro, think happy thoughts!" Atom said to him

"Ah! No!" Astro struggled to get out of Atom's grip.

Atom sighed and let go of Astro, walking back to the living room where he sat down.

Before Tenma walked into the kitchen, Atom walked by him. He looked over at him then opened the door.

Atom plopped down on the couch and sighed again.

"If only there were someone else here that _wouldn't_ reject my acts of affection." He said as he folded his arms, a little annoyed and sad at the same time.

"Oh well."

Tenma grabbed a drink from the refrigerator before sitting down at the table.

Atom decided to walk around the house to see what things he could do, while on his way, he saw Tenma and sat down in front of him.

"So I guess Astro is too grumpy to talk to." Atom began.

"Hmmm."

"Do you think it's 'cause he hates me?!"

"No."

"Phew! That's a relief…."

Tenma let out a small smile.

"If only there were someone else here that _wouldn't_ reject my acts of affection." Atom sighed.

Tenma also sighed.

Atom looked at him and smiled.

Tenma tried to smile back..

"You know, it's kinda weird being here, I guess it's because I've never stayed here for so long, but it's not so bad being here." Atom began.

"Mmmhmm."

Late at night, Atom walked into the kitchen to get a glass of milk after not being able to sleep for a while.

He saw Tenma sitting on the kitchen floor looking off into space.

"What are you doing on the kitchen floor?" Atom asked

"Just got into a little trouble with the wife… And of course the couch is taken..."

"Oh."

Atom sat down and lied on the floor.

"Well you can take the couch if you want."

"No no. I deserve this" Tenma said.

"No, get up, go on the couch and go to bed." Atom put his cup down and closes his eyes.

"No. Atom you should sleep on the couch"

"No, you take the couch, I don't mind the floor, i sleep on a hard bed to begin with so this is nothing."

Tenma sighed and got up, knowing there's no point in fighting Atom.

Atom smiled and opened his eyes to take a sip of his drink.

((END OF CHAPTER 6!))


	7. Look Out Sunshine!

_"I'm a cynical cunt and I'm much too lazy to change. And tell my friends I'll be around, getting nowhere sleeping somewhere"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Seven: Look Out Sunshine!

The next morning, Atom got up from the floor, picking his cup up and putting it in the sink.

He sat down at the table and saw Tenma walking in from the living room.

Astro walked out of his room and to the table.

"Woah, we're all like walking to the table like it's free food or something." Astro began as he took a seat in a chair.

Tenma stood at the counter.

"Geez, you look terrible…." Astro said, looking at Tenma.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He said in response, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing." Astro smiled.

"Cereal!" Atom looked up at Tenma.

"No no, no fucking cereal OK, that's too plain for my appetite…"

"Cereal!"

Astro sighed.

"No, we're not having cereal, Atom, it's too plain." Astro folded his arms.

Tenma walked over to the fridge and opened it, looking at it's contents.

"He better not be pulling out a jug of milk for Plain fucking Jane cereal…"

Tenma pulled out the milk and looked at Astro with a smirk.

"You little shit." Astro muttered.

He chuckled then took the box of cereal out of the cabinet.

Atom smiled.

"Yay, cereal!" He exclaimed.

A few moments later, Tenma handed Atom and Astro their bowls.

"Oh, I'm not eating, Citizen, i'm on a 'well balanced diet' according to the government." Astro said, looking at Tenma.

"You're going to eat it."

"No." Astro pushed the bowl aside.

"Yes." Tenma pushed the bowl back in front of Astro.

"Nope." Astro pushed the bowl even further.

"Eat the fucking cereal you ass." Tenma said through his teeth as he placed the bowl in front of Astro yet again.

"Meh." Astro picked the bowl up and put it in front of Atom.

"Astro, you're not five. Eat your breakfast." Tenma pushed the bowl back over.

"No, I need to achieve my duty of proving the government wrong, and eating this is not gonna help OK, they need to learn that not _all_ robots have a 'well balanced diet'"

"Well your father, a _robotics engineer,_ knows that you do need a well balanced diet. So you're going to do what he says and eat your cereal."

"Well actually no, because I haven't had one for like three years tops, and i'm not dead, so thank you very much, but no."

"It's not going to kill you right away, but it will kill you eventually. You're going to listen to me and eat this."

"But. It's. Too. Fucking. Plain. For. Me."

"And your choice in words is too plain for me. Eat it."

"No, and would you like for me to make my words more spicer for you, because I can totally spi-"

"Just eat the damn food Astro, it's not gonna kill you, and eating something plain is definitely not gonna mess up your so-called 'image'" Atom said as he got up and went to put his plate in the sink.

"Thank you." Tenma looked back at Atom.

"You're welcome."

Astro folded his arms and mocked Atom for a moment before picking up the spoon and beginning to eat the cereal.

"Good boy, Astro." Tenma ruffled his hair before leaving the kitchen.

"Please no."

Atom sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

Tenma walked in later on.

"I tell you, sometimes he seriously gets on my nerves…" Atom began.

"Pft. I know right." Tenma sat down next to Atom.

"Yeah, he should really stop being such a poopy head….."

Tenma chuckled.

"And i'm not just being mean or crazy, because I'm usually chill with most people, but he seems to manage to get under my skin and seriously annoy me."

"He does that to everyone."

"Hmph. Well, not much we can do at this point, he'll just have to learn on his own on how he shouldn't be a jerkface."

"That'll take a while..."

"I agree, but it doesn't hurt to start."

"I've tried teaching him for a while now. He just never listens."

Atom sighed.

"I'd hate to break it to you Tenma, but if Astro is not willing to change and get better then he has some serious issues because I don't think someone with problems would want it to get worse or not look for help."

"I know. He does have problems."

"I mean, I have problems of my own, but I have no issue with taking time out to get better because I don't want things for me to get worse, so it's really not OK for Astro to push things aside or reject every chance he has to turn his life around, because I know he could and the fact that he's not and making it clear to everyone really upsets me a lot…"

"Hmmm." Tenma looked off into the distance. "There's really not much to do about it. He knows what he does is wrong but he has no problem with it. Nothing's going to change until he realizes that he needs to change. Not just for others but for himself."

Atom nodded.

"I almost wanna feel bad for him, but he's such a jerkface it's hard to pay him any respect when you know he's not gonna give it back."

Tenma nodded.

"So, any plans for today?" Atom asked.

"No. Not that I know of."

"Haha, that's fine, I actually enjoy staying home instead of going out, unless i'm taking pictures, then the outdoors is kinda fun."

"Oh!" Atom blurted out when a thought slipped his mind.

"Hmm?" Tenma looked over at him.

"I never told you, did I? Wait, did I? No no, I told Kaitlyn but I don't think I told you….at least I hope I haven't."

"What?"

"I'm going to highschool!" Atom exclaimed with a smile.

"Oh. That's great!" Tenma smiled back.

"Yeah, I finally get to see what schools like, always wondered what it's like to go to school…"

"It'll be fun, I'm sure."

"Haha yeah, Stephen told me it was scary and not worth going to, pfft, scary…. it's probably not _that_ scary…."

"Well it depends."

"What do you mean it _depends_ , is it like not having a 100% guarantee?"

"Pretty much. High school is different for everyone."

"Well how was highschool for you like? Was it scary for you?"

"Well-"

"SHITTTTTT!" came the sound of a loud yell from the kitchen.

Both Tenma and Atom turned around.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"

"What's going on in there?" Tenma looked confused.

"I think I sliced my finger really bad, starting to see some metal stuff, Ooo and red too, guess I'm also bleeding to death, how lovely!"

"Oh my god..." Tenma got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Hi." Astro waved with his other hand.

"Let me see." Tenma walked up to him.

"Oh it's nothing, just sliced a finger, nothing major..." Astro's voice had lots of sarcasm.

Tenma took his hand and examined his wounded finger.

"And it just happened to be my middle finger, just great."

"Son…. I hate to tell you this… But you'll never be able to flip the bird with this hand ever again."

"Nooooooooooooooooo"

"Actually, you just need stitches… In the meantime, try to wrap some paper towels around it so the blood doesn't get all over the place."

"Pfft, can't believe I got sliced by a butter knife." Astro muttered as he made his way to the paper towels, some of the blood made small droplets on the floor.

"Wow."

"That's what I said..."

"Is Astro OK?!" Atom said as he stormed into the kitchen.

"Yes. He's going to be fine."

"Thats why you don't use sharp objects, kids." Astro said.

"Phew! Had me worrying..." Atom replied.

Late at night, Astro quietly got out of his room and into the living room where he picked Atom up and carried him downstairs to the lab.

He placed him on the table and Flicked on a few things.

After some time and Astro was set up, he sat down in a chair and dragged a mouse around as he looked through all kinds of strange codes and what-not.

"Hmmm, maybe this is it?" Astro looked down at the keyboard and went to change a few things.

Finally when he was satisfied, he walked over to Atom to turn him on again.

But He wouldn't.

"Aw come on Atom, wake up, if you're not up by tomorrow my ass is getting roasted!" Astro complained.

Atom still wouldn't turn on.

"Bah! Who cares, I'll just tell them a ghost came in and put a spell on you so you can't wake up..." Astro said as he turned everything off, left the lab and went to bed.

The next day Astro woke up and saw Tenma yet again sitting where he always sat in the morning.

"Ello!" Astro greeted Tenma.

"Good morning."

"Hi."

"Gosh this place feels so empty im not sure why..."

"Hmmm?"

" _This place feels so empty and i'm not sure why..."_

"Oh… That reminds me, have you seen your brother at all?"

"Uh, no no, not at all, have you tried the living room or perhaps the bathroom or out in the forest?"

"He's not in the living room and the bathroom was empty when i walked by it earlier… and I doubt he's outside…"

"Well uh, shoot I have to go call Brianna, you know, always gotta keep her updated! Anywaysbye!" Astro quickly got up and took off.

Tenma sighed.

He looked over to see the door to the lab open, when usually it was closed.

"Hmm?" He looked over at it and looked down the stairs to see the pitch-black basement below.

He decided to investigate and walked down the steps.

He turned on the lights when he made it to the bottom. To his surprise, Atom was lying on the table in the middle of the room.

He walked over and tried to turn him on. After a moment of waiting, Atom was still asleep.

"What… What happened here?" Tenma walked over to the computer with a confused look on his face.

"How did this get on there?" He saw a few things were changed and added. Tenma quickly fixed it then walked back over to Atom to turn him on.

After waiting a moment, Atom's eyes slowly opened as he woke up.

"Woah!" He seemed in shock as to why he was down in the lab.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I'm not sure….."

"Well um, do you know why I'm here?"

"No idea."

"Well that's a little strange, do you think I'm OK?"

"Yeah. You're fine."

"Haha, alright then, guess I better head back to bed and let you sleep, goodnight." Atom got up from the table and started heading out of the lab.

"But it's 11 in the morning..."

"Wait? What?!"

"It's 11 am."

"Wow, ive been asleep that long?"

"I guess so."

"Dang thats a really long-"

"Atom! You're awake, I guess that thing did wor- I mean i'm glad to see your face!" Astro said as he walked down the steps into the lab.

"Hmmm?" Atom was confused.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Astro shook his hands.

Tenma raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do...?" He asked.

"Shit!" Astro muttered.

"I uh, asked Atom how to knit a sweater for Brianna and he went here to get something and a ghost showed up and put him in a deep sleep, I saw the whole thing, I was gonna get you guys but I didn't wanna interrupt your sleep..." Astro said in a quick, nervous tone.

Tenma glared at him for a moment.

"Tell me the truth, Astro."

"IM NOT GETTING MY ASS BEAT TODAYYYYY!" Astro yelled as he quickly made a run for it.

"Hey! Get back here!" Tenma chased after him.

"No!" Astro made it upstairs and ran to his room.

"YOU'RE NEVER GONNA TAKE ME ALIVE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" He yelled from under a few blankets he engulfed himself in.

"I'M NOT THE LITTLE SHIT. YOu'RE THE LITTLE SHIT!" Tenma rushed down the hall and to Astro's room.

"THEN YOU'RE THE MAJOR CACA STINKY SHIT!"

A muffled "LANGUAGE!" could be heard from the other room.

"CINDY DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE ONLY CENSORED ONE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD!" came a yell from Astro as a response.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH BEFORE I SHUT IT FOR YOU!"

"Told you." Astro smirked

Tenma walked into the room, he saw a large pile of blankets lying in the middle of the room.

"Show yourself."

"UNICORNS!" Astro blurted out.

"I'm going to jump on the pile of blankets. Come out or get squashed."

Astro lifted the blankets a tad just to expose a portion of his face.

"Listen here you asshole, I didn't do shit and if you dare try and squish me, my friend you won't be alive much longer." Astro then covered himself in his blankets again.

Tenma sighed.

"Fine. You asked for it."

He took a running jump and leapt onto the lump of blankets, face first.

"NOOOOO SHITTTT GOD FUCKING DAMNIT I SWEARRRRR!"

"MY FUCKING INSIDES BROOOO!"

"Ummmmm, was I uh, unaware of an event taking place right now?" Atom asked after casually walking into Astro's room and witnessing the odd scene.

Tenma looked over at Atom.

"I'm punishing your brother."

"Oh well uh, that's a uh- _odd_ type of discipline if I do say so my uhhhhh, self." ((omfg im trying so hard not to choke on my fucking doritos omfg ~kate))

"HE'S A MONSTER ATOM, A HUGE CACA STINKY SHITTY ASSHOLE MONSTER I FUCKING SWEAR!"

"Don't listen to him, Atom. He's a disobeying little shit."

"Uh uh, yeah yeah, _totally_ , well ummm, _I think i'm just gonna go watch some preschool shows while I bleach my eyes out to cleanse my soul_ ….." Atom slowly walked away.

"Look what you did, Astro. You scared your poor brother to death."

"Says the one that decided to _jump_ on me…"

"It's not my fault you're being an asshole."

"I'm sorry but asshole is part of my job description, _if you didn't know_ ….."

"Just tell me what you did to Atom."

"I ain't do shit, mofo." Astro folded his arms.

"Yes you did do shit."

"No, I ain't do shit, mofo."

" _Tell me what you did._ "

Astro pulled the blankets from his head.

"Y _ou're really testing my limits, aren't you_?"

"Tell me."

"No, because I ain't do diddly squat."

"Yes you did. Stop lying to me."

" _No_."

"Astro."

"Citizen."

"Astro, tell me what you did!"

Astro sighed.

"You wanna know what I did?"

" _Yes."_

"Are you sure you wanna know what I did?"

"YES!"

"Are you _really_ sure you wanna know what I did?"

"Yes. Tell me right now."

"OK OK…."

"Are you _really really_ sure you wanna know what I did?"

"YESSSSSSSSSS DAMMIT!"

A noise from the distant arose, almost sounding like a familiar voice singing.

"Oh dear lord don't tell me he put on Sesame's Street, goddamnit." Astro said.

Tenma facepalmed.

"ATOM SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Astro yelled.

"THE POWER OF ELMO COMPELS YOU!" Atom yelled back.

"What the actual fuck?" Astro looked at Tenma.

He tried his best not to burst out laughing.

Astro folded his arms and huffed.

"YOU KNOW IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO TEACH ME A LESSON YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TRY A LOT HARDER!" He yelled.

"I JUST DID, NOW HOW ABOUT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING YOU FESS UP BECAUSE A LIAR IS MORE WORSE THAN AN ASS!" Atom replied.

"But I didn't do shit, goddamnit!" Astro stood up.

"You have to prove that." Tenma looked over at him.

"Bullshit." Astro walked away out of his room and to the living room.

Tenma sighed and walked out of the room.

"You seriously think coming here is gonna solve your problem?" Atom asked.

"Pffft, of course not, just ah, thought of ummmm, watching TV!" Astro said as he snatched the remote from near Atom.

"Hey!" Atom looked at Astro as he tried to reach for the remote.

"Nope, TV's mine now buddyboy." Astro sat down and changed the channel.

Atom sighed and folded his arms.

"Fine, have it _your_ way." He looked away.

"Yup, thanks!" Astro smiled.

Tenma walked into the living room.

Astro slowly turned around and gave him a death stare.

Tenma stuck his tongue out at him as he made his way into the kitchen.

Atom sighed with his arms still folded, his smile slowly fading away. ((Hope no one assumes he's making a big deal about the TV and likes to think deeply about things like me….. ~Emily)).

"Atom? Are you seriously _that_ upset about me changing the stupid channel? Sheesh, what a baby…." Astro said as he rolled his eyes when he briefly looked over at Atom who was facing away from him and leaning more on the couch, still with folded arms and a fading smile.

"No, I'm f-fine." Atom replied in an almost inaudible voice, beginning to feel a bit tense.

He looked around for a moment before suddenly getting up and walking at a slightly fast pace to the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him and suddenly the silence annoyed him.

Atom tried keeping himself together before abruptly coughing quite hard.

He tried clearing his throat before he found himself hovering over with toilet with tears streaming down his face.

He coughed again and let everything escape from his mouth, he soon just found himself sitting there crying and shaking at the same time.

"Pffft fine you win, i'll put your stupid shit bac- are you fucking kidding me, _again_?!" Astro complained after letting Atom win but seeing he had wandered off again.

"UGH! TENMA HE FUCKING LEFT AGAIN GOSH DARNIT!" He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

Tenma looked up at Astro from where he was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee steaming in front of him.

"Well? He left again, we gotta go get him!"

"I don't think he would just leave the house like that again. He actually listens to me… unlike _some_ poeple."

"Well then where could he be, hmmmm?"

"Somewhere in the house, of course"

"Pffft, sure sure, and when i'm right you're gonna regret it….." Astro walked away.

Cindy woke up from the small nap she was taking and stretched.

She yawned as she got up, walked out of the room and to the bathroom.

She was surprised to see the light on, but walked in anyways.

Cindy gasped and took a step back when she saw Atom sitting on the floor, vomit slowly dripping down his chin.

"BILL!"

"Hmm?" Tenma looked up from his cup of coffee. He quickly got out of his chair and rushed to where Cindy was calling him from.

"Cindy! What's-" He looked into the bathroom.

Once he saw Atom, he immediately kneeled down by his side and examined his face and eyes. He was pale. His eyes droopy and glassy.

"What happened?"

Atom looked away and shook his head.

"I'm fine." He couldn't even get those words to come out of his mouth.

"You really need to wash this off..." Tenma said looking at the stomach fluid on Atom's shirt. He reached over and turned the faucet on in the bathtub.

Atom sighed.

"Think you can take a bath?" Tenma looked at him again.

Atom didn't respond.

"I'm not going to have to help you, am I?" Tenma sighed.

Atom shook his head.

Tenma stood up. He helped Atom up.

Atom seemed to be nervous with the leftover feeling of being tense and uneasy.

"We'll talk about this after you get cleaned up, ok?" Tenma patted Atom's back and smiled.

Atom smiled at him for a moment.

Tenma left the room and closed the door behind him.

He looked over at Cindy who was standing in the hallway, one hand over her mouth and her arm laid across her stomach.

"Are you going to be alright?"

She nodded and took her hand away from her mouth, letting out a very small smile.

Tenma smiled back and put his arms around her in a hug.

Soon after time passed, Atom walked out of the bathroom and slowly made his way to the living room, only to be stopped by Tenma half the way.

"Is there something you aren't telling me?"

Atom was in a slight quick burst of panic, unsure of what to even say.

How could he explain something to Tenma when he didn't even understand it himself?

And so what if he did, what facts would he have to back up his assumptions?

"Uh- uh….." Atom stuttered.

"No no, it's fine, probably just ate something bad you know, it uh- happens to uh, people."

"Hmm. Well if you ever need anyone to talk to. Or anything at all. You have me and Cindy." Tenma put his hand on Atom's shoulder.

Atom nodded and awkwardly walked away.

"It happens to everyone, Atom, just gotta lay off the beans and stick to salad." He muttered to himself as he walked away.

" _Or_ you stop acting like a baby and keep this crap under control." This time his voice was even lower.

"You got this."

Atom sighed as he sat down on the couch.

Astro surprisingly was still sitting not too far from him, this time laughing a little at the TV.

" _You got this."_

He relaxed a little and leaned back.

Astro looked over at him.

"Sup?" He said

"I'm fine!" Atom blurted out.

"Hmmmm _well then_." Astro replied.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING OKAY?!" Atom stood up and suddenly yelled at Astro.

"Seesh, _sorry_ , don't need to get all angry with me." Astro scooted back.

Atom sighed and sat back down, feeling extremely terrible.

"S-sorry…." He looked down at the floor.

"It's… fine." Astro replied.

" _If I get my butt out of here in enough time I can haul myself back to the robot hospital and have them sort this out….."_

Atom sighed for what he claimed to be the millionth time.

Late at night, Atom was busy in the living room prepping for him to leave, he heard footsteps in the distant, which slightly scared him.

He tried not to make any noise but accidently hit his leg against something, causing him to let out a sudden "ouch!"" as a reaction.

Atom looks around and saw no one, he then proceeded to walk out the door.

Out of the shadows Tenma's voice says, "And where do you think _you're_ going?"

"Crap." Atom muttered.

"Ummmm, just uh, outside to uhhh, go stargazing, haha, not sure if you know but I kinda have a thing for starsy spacey stuffy stuff."

"You know I don't like lying, Atom."

"Haha, _lying_ , pfffft…." Atom forced a chuckle.

"Atom. Tell me where you were going.' Tenma walked up to Atom, the moonlight now shining on his face.

"Look, I-I don't mean any harm but-"

"Atom."

Atom took a step back.

"I'd like to stay and all, it's really great here, honest, but… I-I have to go, for the sake of my safety and those here, I don't think my mind is-"

"I know there's something wrong, Atom. Wherever you plan on going isn't going to help."

"No no, I'm not going home if that's what you're thinking, I think I need to check myself in."

"The hospital isn't going to help either."

Atom sighed and turned his back away from Tenma.

"Well it's worth a try." He took a step forward.

"I know you don't understand what's going on in your head, but leaving really isn't the answer. If you would just opened up a little more, I could help you pinpoint what this problem of yours is and fix it."

"Well, it's not easy you know…..when you…."

Atom sighed, taking another step.

"I know what you're going through. I know that feeling. And trust me, staying is the best option."

Atom was about to leave out of sheer frustration, but stood there like a statue, all thoughts taking a sudden leave.

He soon took one more step and looked over at the door.

" _If you make it through today, you can try again tomorrow."_

"I'm sorry." Atom walked a few more steps, almost getting close to the door.

"I'm just as vulnerable as you are…." Tenma walked up behind Atom.

Atom took a quick look back at Tenma.

"We can make it through this together." He smiled at Atom, heartfelt tears forming in his eyes.

Atom, out of sudden impulse, quickly opened the door and walked outside.

Astro slowly opened his door and walked out.

"Dad, what are you doing up so late? Go the fuck to sleep, I'm trying to relax so I can go to fucking bed and all I hear is you're stupid shit louder than a speaker!"

Tenma looked at him with angry tears running down his cheeks.

Astro just walked back into his room and closed the door, not wanting to deal with whatever troubles were bothering Tenma.

Tenma then fell to his knees, looking at the ground, feeling like he has failed Atom.

Atom just stood outside the door the whole time, debating on whether or not to leave.

" _If you leave now, you'll be back by the morning."_

Atom sighed.

He felt bad for leaving, but knew there really wasn't much he could do, or was even _willing_ to do in a desperate effort to get to the bottom of this and fix as much as possible.

"Think I might need to fly if I wanna get there in time…."

He sighed, making a few steps forward until taking off.

Atom got there not too long later as he walked through the doors.

"Hi Atom!" The lady upfront greeted him.

"Oh, hey miss!" Atom greeted back.

"Lemme guess, you're sick again?"

"Actually no I uh, need to check myself in."

"Oh, you OK?"

"Well uh, no, but that's just on the DL, you and me."

"Yes yes, you can just go up to your room, I'll call someone in for you." ((Just a fun fact: Atom's been to the hospital so many times the whole staff knows him and even has a room just for him! Says a lot, hmm? ~Emily))

"Thanks." Atom sighed and walked to the elevators.

He walked into his room and sat down, only for someone to walk in.

"Atom, what a pleasant surprise to see you here so close to midnight! Lemme guess, fever? Coughing? Headache?" The person began.

"No no, i'm not sick." Atom waved his hands in disagreement.

"Oh well uh, I'm sure whatever it is, we'll do something about it."

"Um, can you, close the door." Came a request from Atom.

"Oh, sure sure!" The door then closed.

"Well um, I think there's something wrong with me?"

"Hmmmmmm, go on."

"Well, I just, I get these weird feelings all the time, and I'm always tense and shaking and acting so clingy towards people, and uhhh, I've been, throwing up, occasionally."

"Hmmm." The person walked over to the table and picked up Atom's charts, they began to examine it.

"Well your charts seem to be fine, no sign of any mental difficulties here, but that's not to say you couldn't be faced with that sort of problem…."

Atom sighed.

"Just what I need." He said with sarcasm.

"Don't worry, i'm a professional, and professionals can figure things out…"

Atom looked around the room.

"Now there's a few things I can do, where would you like to begin?"

After quite some time passed, Atom was left alone in the room again.

He briefly let out a chuckle at the recalling of a memory.

"You know I care." Atom looked over as if he were talking to a person.

He looked quite sad when he realized no one was there.

The person walked back in again.

"WellAtomIgottheresultsandthing'saren'tsosunny." They said quite fast.

"What do you mean?" Atom was confused.

"Well you were right, something's not right in that head of yours, sadly we can't do much to rid of it completely, but we _can_ do something so it's not so bothersome."

"Now you have two options, I can write out some meds you could take or I could refer you to a therapist, which you wouldn't really want, the atmosphere there is terrible, makes you wanna die in a ditch, trust me I've been there once and I'm not even a robot!"

Atom chuckled.

"I think i'll just take the meds, not really ready to go 'die in a ditch' quite yet….." He replied.

"Meds it is!" They walked back to the table and sat down in a chair.

"There ya go." They handed the papers to Atom.

"All of _this_?"

"Well it's just to start you out, cover you from all angles, but this will change over time."

"And uh, you're starting to become a little overweight, need to cut back on the sweets and work out more….."

"I know, I'm trying, one step at a time!"

"Yep tot- hey that's my catchphrase!"

"Not anymore." Atom laughed.

"Bah! Fine, guess i'll just find another one…."

"Awww no no, you have it, I promise I won't use it again."

"No, you take it, because I have a new one!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! It's gonna be 'time a at step one'!"

"Isn't that just 'one step at a time' backwards?"

"Ssssssh of course not, I'm original….."

Later on, Atom was back home and knocked on the door, Astro came out and opened it.

"Oh, FOUND HIM!" Astro began.

Atom smiled and walked inside.

"So uh, you know where Tenma went, I uh, need to give him something…." Atom asked.

"Ummmm, no, last time I checked he walked with a beer down to the lab." Astro replied.

"Great." Atom made his way downstairs to the lab.

At the last step he accidentally kicked something with his foot. It rattled like glass clanking together.

"Huh?"

He turned the light on and looked down to see a case of 5 empty beer bottles.

"Seesh, Astro wasn't kidding, this is quite a lot."

He looked up and saw Tenma sitting in his desk chair, his head laying flat against the metal examining table in the middle of the room, and his hand holding an open, half-empty bottle.

"Tenma?" Atom walked up to him.

"I uh, went to the hospital and they uh, they uh…"

Atom sighed.

"Gosh I never thought i'd have to say this to anyone." He muttered.

"They said I have anxiety and they want me on meds, sadly…."

"And I uh, I got you something! Kinda my way of uh, saying sorry for what I did….."

"T-Tenma?" Atom started becoming worried.

He didn't respond, or even move for that matter.

Atom got slightly closer to him and moved his hand to touch his shoulder.

Nothing happened.

Atom sighed.

He moved his hand over to Tenma's head, moving it so he could see his face.

He nearly leapt back.

Tenma's usually prim and proper hair was a mess, his beard unkempt, there were large dark circles under his eyes, and now some drool was leaking out from his half-open mouth.

Out of sudden fear and impulse Atom made a mad dash to get upstairs and look for someone.

"CINDYYY! CINDYYYYY!" He cried out.

"Atom?" She rubbed her eyes as she walked out of her bedroom.

"T-TENMA!" Atom was fumbling around with his words.

"What about him?" She looked confused.

"HE UH, I DUNNO I JUST UH GOT HERE AND HE, HE DOWNSTAIRS ALL UHHHH GROSS LOOKING!" Atom seemed to be losing it with all the gestures he was making out of sheer stress and fear.

She looked even more confused now.

Atom suddenly clung to her, tears running down his face.

"HE'S DEAD!" He yelled out, muffled.

"He's what?!" Cindy looked shocked. She pulled away from Atom and quickly ran downstairs, Atom following close behind.

She nearly tripped on the same box of bottles Atom kicked earlier.

When she caught her balance she looked down at them, picking one up.

"UMATARO TENMA!" She yelled harshly.

"Huh? Wuh?" Tenma slowly opened his eyes, soon closing them from the bright lights and groaning with an extreme headache.

"What did I tell you about drinking?!"

"Cindy, please." His words slurred a bit.

"Don't ' _please_ ' me."

"Cindy, you-you're welcome."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" She walked up to him.

"Why does it have to?" He lifted his head up and was about to take a drink from the bottle in his hand.

"Give me that!" Cindy snatched it from his hand.

Atom could feel a bad aroma going on, which bugged him greatly and caused him to just head up the stairs.

"Thank you..." Tenma mumbled.

Cindy sighed as she put the bottle in the box with the others.

Tenma put his head back down.

"What even happened that made you drink again."

"I...I'm not... I'm not an alcoholic, Cindy..." He slurred.

"I know that... What happened?"

"You d...don't know?"

"No. I don't. I went to bed the last time I saw you."

"Atom... Atom left again..."

"He left?"

"W-w-what do you mean? Don't... Don't you see he-he's missing?..."

"He was in here a second ago."

"HE WHAT?!" Tenma suddenly sat up.

"Gah!" He shielded his eyes from the light and put his head back down. He groaned again.

"I'll... I'll be angry at him later..."

Cindy sighed again and turned off the lights after picking up the pack of beers.

"Don't drink anymore..."

"Mmhmmm..." Tenma nodded as he rubbed his head.

Cindy walked back upstairs.

"Gosh I'll be a drug addict anytime soon if I have to take all of this crap!" Atom threw his papers up in the air and hit his head against the table out of frustration.

He lifted his head up and saw Cindy walking through.

"He's not _mad_ right? Because I uh, need to, ask for a favor?" Atom asked her.

"We'll see when his hangover goes away." She dropped the box into the trash.

"I just feel really terrible for what I did…."

"Well... He really did want to help you. He thought he knew what was best for you. Perhaps he did know. Perhaps he didn't. But he cares for you and only wants you to be happy. I'm guessing that when you walked through that door, he felt you lost trust in him. He runs on trust. When he loses it he crashes."

Atom sighed.

"Well he's got nothing to worry about now." Atom collected his papers and slid them over to Cindy.

"Hmmm. Prescriptions for anxiety meds, eh?"

"It was either that or therapy, and trust me I wouldn't put a toe in that door even if you paid me."

"I assume that even if Bill had taken this into his own hands, this would've been what came out of it anyways; you going to the hospital and getting medication."

"You assume a lot of things, you know?" Atom chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood and throw in a joke.

"Haha. I guess so." Cindy chuckled. "I just did it again, didn't I?"

"Mmmhmmm."

They both laughed.

"So anxiety? I saw it coming, honestly."

"Yeah what wonderful news _that_ was." Atom went back to speaking in his sarcastic voice.

"Well you took things into your own hands. I'm proud of you. Guess we're just so used to Astro being so needy that you going about and doing things like this on your own is a bit of a surprise."

Atom looked at her and smiled.

She smiled back.

((END OF CHAPTER 7!))

((CO-Author's note: I'd like to thank the show Rick and Morty for giving me an accurate representation and inspiration for a drunk person. thanks. ~Kate (P.S. I'm 17 so I can watch that show. don't worry. Ok. Bye.) ))


	8. Stolen Dance

" _I want you by my side, so that I never feel alone 've always been so kind, but now they've brought you away from here."_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Eight: Stolen Dance

By the afternoon, Atom was still sitting at the table scrolling through things on his phone when the sound of footsteps echoed through the room.

Atom showed no interest by not even moving an inch, but out of sheer curiosity, he let his eyes ponder around to at least see who was coming.

"Atom? You here?"

Atom quietly nodded before clearing his throat.

"I'm here." Says Atom.

He put his stuff down to pay his attention to the person walking in.

Atom watched as they made it up the final steps and glance over at him as he sat at the table, watching them take their steps.

"I'm sorry." He began, looking down at the table.

Tenma sighed as he grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and sat down at the table.

Atom looked at him, trying not to let his tears escape.

Tenma pressed the pack against his head.

"No... _I'm_ sorry."

"Nonono, it's not your fault, I-I... I should have never done what I did." Atom quickly replied.

"Nobody's going to be taking blame here... I... I tried to take control of everything when it was obvious that you knew what you were doing..."

Atom sighed as he looked away for a moment.

"I know." He whispered as his voice cracked.

Tenma sighed again and closed his eyes tightly, massaging his forehead.

"You know I wish for things to get better but when you hear things like this it's kinda hard to see any hope." Atom slid the papers to Tenma and prepared to walk away when he'd shed his first tear.

Tenma slowly opened his eyes and looked at the papers.

"Anxiety..." He said in a long exhale of breathe.

"I'm a monster..." Atom began.

"No you aren't." Tenma looked up at him.

Atom sighed.

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry, I really promised..." His voice was even more cracked as he was on the verge of tears.

Tenma looked back down at the papers then back at Atom.

"I most definitely did not sign up for this... _I'm sorry_..."

"You didn't do anything wrong Atom. This is really what's best for you." Tenma slid the papers back to Atom with a pained but heartfelt smile across his lips.

Atom tried to smile as he looked at him.

His eyes were glassy.

He sniffled as he got up and walked up next to Tenma.

Tenma looked up at him.

Atom smiled and gave Tenma a hug.

Tenma smiled and hugged him back.

Finally he let a few tears escape as he sniffed again.

Tenma hugged him tighter and tried not to cry as well.

"I got you something as an apology." Atom said.

Tenma let go of the hug.

"Oh really?"

Atom nodded.

"What is it?"

"Oh, well uh..." Atom scrambled to look for it.

"I uh, got this cool tag from the polo store as my a _polo_ gy, heh? Heh? Am I the pun master or what?"

Tenma sighed and chuckled.

Atom chuckled back.

"I was gonna buy the actual thing, but im a poor poor soul..."

"I think it's perfect just the way it is. Honestly, the pun would've been enough."

"Haha, yes someone likes the puns!" Atom exclaimed.

"Haha. Well I have a present for you, too."

"Really? Oh wait don't tell me, i want it to be a surprise!"

"Well I'm going to have to show you." Tenma stood up.

"Ooo now you got me all excited about what that present is!"

"You have to close your eyes. You do want it to be a surprise, right?"

"Uh huh, although I might get a bit paranoid that I might bump into something."

"Don't worry. I won't let you bump into anything. You can hold my hand if that'll help."

"Hmm alright, whooo gonna figure out what this cool thing is!"

Tenma chuckled and led Atom out of the room and to another door.

"We're going down some stairs so watch your step."

"Uh huh."

When they got to the bottom of the steps, Tenma led him to another door.

He opened it and they both walked in. Atom heard a click and could see light through his eyelids.?

"You can open your eyes now."

Atom slowly opened his eyes.

He gasped and took a step back.

"Woah."

Tenma smiled at him.

"It's not completely finished... Granted I wasn't planning on showing you for a few more days. But it should do for now... What do you think?"

All Atom could do was smile.

"I'm guessing you like it."

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Well... Go on..." Tenma patted Atom's shoulder.

Atom chuckled and walked forward, seeming for the most part excited and happy.

He kept going until he was stopped for a moment by a sudden pain in his neck and shoulders.

Atom had a look of discomfort as he came to a halt, slowing bringing his arm up to his neck.

Tenma caught up to him.

"Is everything OK?" He asked him after seeing the uncomfortable look on Atom's face.

"Well not really, my neck and shoulders really hurt all the sudden….."

"Strange..."

Atom nodded.

"YO CITIZEN! WHERE. YOU. AT! I HEARD THE NEWS FROM CINDY YOU WERE DRINKING LIKE CRAZY! WHOOO I LAUGHED SO HARD I HAD TO SIT DOWN MAN, WHOOO!" Came a voice that sounded like Astro yelling from not too far away.

Tenma sighed. "I'm down here, Astro! Please stop yelling."

"Oh, thought you were still out cold, haha…"

Atom sighed and walked out of the room.

"No one has time for your bull crap, save it for another day." Atom said to Astro when he got closer to him and then headed upstairs.

Astro stuck his tongue out at him and then walked over to Tenma.

"Oooo, working on a little project here, hmm?" Astro began.

"I never told you?"

"No, I uhhhhhhhh don't think so…."

"Oh…."

"Yep."

Astro walked even more looking around.

With his elbow he accidentally hit something, causing it to fall straight down to the ground.

"Ooopies! Well it was nice seeing your face but um, i'mgonnagonowbye!" Astro quickly fled the scene.

Tenma sighed again and picked up the picture frame Astro had pushed over. Thankfully, it hadn't broken. He placed it back on the dresser next to him.

He took one last look around the room he had started furnishing and decorating for Atom and then left, closing the door behind him.

((Co-Author's note: From here on, it'll just be Kait writing for this chapter. So be warned, the styles will differ... A lot... Because Kaitlyn feels like using her own style other than emi's :) ~Kait))

Had it been a week? Or two? Maybe it was a day and all that happened was only a dream. No use checking the calendar, it's full of lies and disappointment. She stopped checking after the first two days. Since then everything has been a blur. A lengthy, dull blur.

Distraction? Are there enough distractions?

"Get a job." They all say.

"I'm looking into it." She responds.

Fake smiles. Fake strength. Fake everything.

She doesn't even know who she is anymore.

Did she ever know who she was?

Kaitlyn had gotten sick of the boredom. If the internet doesn't work, will physical labor do much of a difference? It won't hurt to try.

"Push yourself to do it." She thinks. "Just like you did before."

"But should I? What's the point?"

Back and forth. Her thoughts sway from one to another.

Soon she finds herself at the kitchen sink, slowly washing the dishes. "Aunt Diane has been asking me to do this for a few days..." has become her excuse.

Lift a plate from the water. Scrub it. Rinse it. Let it dry on the dishrack. There isn't much thinking to it.

But that's the problem. Thinking.

When you can't think about dishes, you think about everything else. It's nearly impossible to explain her train of thought. Sentences fly by. Thoughts are going too fast. Memories once stored away are revisited. One thing leads to another. But why? They don't connect… but they do….

Soon something, one of those triggers, one of those many memories, creeps its way into her head.

A teardrop falls to the soapy water below. Whatever plate, cup, whatever, that was being washed has been submerged back into the sink.

"Why…..?" Kaitlyn felt the tears run down her cheeks, under her chin, down the front of her neck. She couldn't help but shake, her eyes shut tightly. She trembled with an indescribable fear… a sadness gone too far.

Sometimes the medicine doesn't work…. Or is it just not enough?

A sudden knock interrupted the silence.

At first she doesn't move. She cries harder.

She heard another knock.

She sighed and grabbed the towel besides her, wiping her soaked hands and then her face as she walked to the front door.

Slowly, Kaitlyn turned the doorknob and pulled the door back towards her.

"Miss Kaitlyn?"

"Brandon? What are y-?"

"Miss Kaitlyn! You're alive! Thank goodness!" Brandon greeted Kaitlyn with a large smile.

"What?" She was thrown back for a second.

"You haven't answered any of my texts or calls in weeks. Granted, I don't often text or call you, but you always do respond so I was concerned that something had happened to you."

"Oh. Yeah. That makes sense." She said, monotone, as she looked off past Brandon's shoulder, trying her best to avoid eye contact. "Would you like to come in?" She glanced at him for a moment.

"It would be a pleasure." He smiled.

She returned a quick, half-hearted smile then moved out of the way for Brandon to walk through the door.

He stepped in then took a seat on the couch. ((Hey guys just lettin ya know im working on this chap too now so yeah lol ~Emily)) ((I caught a major case of writer's block. *cough cough. sniffle* ~Kait))

"Well ummm, as you may uh, know… My parents have been pushing me to be with that other um, miss. They really seem to be cramming it a lot harder, i suggested we discuss this over supper but they declined, I guess they can't eat dinner with someone below our rank…."

"I'm well aware of the situation." Kaitlyn closed the door, her back facing Brandon. "I don't see how it could change much from when we last talked."

Brandon nodded.

"I'm really trying…. Perhaps if you meet this other girl we can maybe see what my parents see in her?"

"She's rich, Brandon. That's what they see in her. Her parents are probably almost as rich as your's are. They want you to marry into money. Keep up the family fortune. They'd do the same thing with any of their other children, if they had any."

Brandon sighed.

"I will not stand for this!" He stood up.

"What could you possibly do?" Kaitlyn turned to look at him, stone-faced but tears forming in her eyes.

"I could…. I could…. I could do something! I could go away, I could….I could…. Talk to them again…" He sat back down.

"Is it really worth all the trouble?…." She looked away and off into the distance.

"Well, there's not much we can do, I've tried every possible thing to convince them, but nothing seems to work."

"Maybe we just weren't meant to be." Kaitlyn started to walk towards the couch.

"I don't see how… We… we can't give up now, there's always opportunities somewhere down the line."

"Lately, giving up has been the easiest option for me..." She sat on the couch, a seat away from Brandon, and crossed her arms.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine to me."

"Well _I'm fine_." Kaitlyn turned her head away.

"No you aren't. First you don't talk to me for weeks, and now when I see you, you look terrible…. This isn't because… because you don't like me anymore… is it?"

"No it's not that..." Kaitlyn said, nearly whispering.

"Then what's bothering you?"

"It's too complicated…."

((END OF CHAPTER 8 FOR NOW!))

 _ **(AN: Sorry for such a short chapter, chapter 9 is even more worse trust me, but i had this idea in mind that flopped and caused us both to do terrible jobs, this chapter actually was supposed to have more but i really wanted to update the story so this may or may not get reuploaded idk, but thanks for reading anyways!)**_


	9. Mad Hatter

" _I'm nuts, baby, I'm mad, the craziest friend that you've ever had. So what if I'm crazy? The best people are"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Nine: Mad Hatter

Nothing seemed to work.

Atom knew this when he got up in the morning.

His gross looking tired face was plastered like words shoved in front of your face, or something you wouldn't dare see, being shown, and not ever leaving.

Atom knew this when he sat down at the table, he felt like all eyes were staring at him at that very moment.

"Atom, you OK? You look tired?" a voice asked him.

Atom yawned.

"I'm fine." he whispered.

"You sure you look-"

"I'm fine."

Atom got up and walked into the kitchen where he took his pills and sat back down again.

"Just wonderful."

"Cereal again?" Another voice asked.

Atom nodded.

"Oh come on, _again_ , we have cereal everyday practically!?"

Atom nodded again and yawned. 

Soon, a bowl of cereal was placed before him, Atom fragily picked up the spoon and carefully dumped it in his cereal.

He took a bite then set the spoon down on the table, he coughed again as he usually did when he felt nauseous.

Atom suddenly knocked out, his head falling into his bowl, causing it to tilt forward and all the cereal came out.

He snored.

"ATOM?!" The voice that offered him the cereal rushed over to him.

"Atom?" They shook his shoulder.

"Hmmmmm?" Atom lifted his head up.

"You OK there?" The person asked.

Atom nodded.

"You look like you haven't slept in days…."

"Mmmmmhmmmm….." Atom nodded.

"Mmmmedi's makin' me s-s-sleep de-de-uh-privey."

"Hmmmmm, how about you just go back and rest?"

"S-sur- ack! H-hold that thought." Atom got up and walked to the bathroom.

He walked in and coughed again before, like he usually did every so often, Atom threw up in the toilet, this time not crying, but kind of satisfied as if he was expecting this to come.

Atom soon walked out of the bathroom and went into the kitchen again

"Geez, whatcha' do in there? Take a long ass piss?" Astro asked.

"No no, I just uh, thro uppy." Atom yawned, still speaking in a sleepy tone.

"I- I need a second dose….." Atom walked back into the kitchen and over to the medicine cabinet.

"N-no Atom, it's fine, you don't need to take them again…."

"Well yeah, I threw them up, thus I need seconds." Atom quickly replied.

"Atom it's fine you-"

"I'M TAKING A SECOND DOSE ALRIGHT?!"

Astro sighed, he moved Atom's hand from the cabinet door.

"Astro….."

"I'm not letting you do this."

"ASTRO!"

"ATOM NO!"

Atom stood there, blank faced, before he twisted his arm away from Astro and stormed out of the house, slamming the door.

Astro looked as he saw Atom leave, a look of sadness came over him.

Tenma walked back in after just leaving a few moments ago at the sound of a door slamming.

Astro looked over at him.

Atom walked into the robot hospital yet again, without even saying a word to anyone but just walking to his room and sitting down in the hospital bed before screaming out of anger and laughing hysterically.

"Atom?" The person, who we've mentioned before but have yet to name, peeped into the room after hearing Atom's scream.

"HahahahahaHAHAHA! I want off this crap." Atom stood up and looked at them seriously.

"W-wha-what?"

"I. Want. Off. This. Stupid. MEDICATION!"

"But Atom, please, just bear with me OK, you're body just-"

"You said that last week."

"Well it takes ti-"

"And the week before, we're in July, I started complaining the last week of June."

The person closed the door.

"Look, we're all trying really har-"

"Try harder, this stuff is hurting more than helping me and i'd like it to stop."

"First of all, you need sleep, no wonder you're all cranky….."

"Hmm Hmm HMM, how funny, would you look at that?"

Atom yawned.

"I'd like to be off this by next week, in the nearest mental hospital and dead as soon as possible."

Atom paused.

"That is an option, right?"

The person shook their head.

Atom got up and stormed away.

"Wh-wait? Atom?! Where?" The person tried calling out to him but gave up and sighed.

Atom was walking the same sidewalk he walked just weeks ago and sat down in the same place he sat before, this time it wasn't as cold.

He saw the cars passing by.

"How many can you count?"

"Haha, I dunno, looks like, more than 10, has to be."

Atom laughed to himself.

He looked behind him and saw a metal fence.

"Hmmm, bet I can toss this rock over the fence?"

Atom took a moment to calculate a proper route before finally throwing the rock.

It flew across the street in mid-air before hitting something and flying right back before hitting something else and landing on Atom's head.

"Ow! Guess I gotta try that again…."

Atom threw it again and this time it made it over the fence!

"Haha, not bad…." Atom got up.

"Ahh, think I should just go home, no use in being here anyways.." Atom started walking away.

Suddenly something had overtaken him.

"Crap, crap no! Craaaaappp." Atom stopped walking when his hands began to shake.

"No no, you're fine, you're fine, no, please!"

"NOOOO!" Atom screamed.

He soon caused quite a commotion as his panic attack continued on, he eventually ended up right where he was before.

In the robot hospital.

"Hmmm?" Atom slowly woke up.

"Atom! Nice to see ya, thought you were leaving hmmmm? I thought so too, but hey, you're here!" The person from earlier stood in front of a glass window and spoke into a microphone.

"So um, hi, yeah."

"I'm bored so i'm just gonna take a sip of this drink so you won't be bored too." The person grabbed their cup and took a sip from the straw.

"Ah. Yes. Refreshing."

Another person walked in and pushed the other person aside.

"We called Tenma and he should be here soon, Okay?" they said.

"Ummm, what if I don't-"

The person had already walked away.

"Aw you're leaving already? But we're like buddies, you get sick, I take care of you, we have a cycle-type thingy going on here….."

Atom sighed.

After getting the phone call, Tenma and Astro headed out to the hospital to visit Atom.

(END OF CHAPTER 9!)

((Author's note: Sorry this chapter is short but I had the stupid idea of having me work on part of this chap solo and Kaitlyn finish chap 8 but I got stuck and made this chap total shit and Kaitlyn is too pissy and busy to help meh out so you're stuck with this shit but I promise chap. 10 will be better cuz i'll learn not to ask to do things solo or rely on Kaitlyn to help me when i'm stuck… ~Emily))


	10. Crybaby (Part One)

" _They call me cry baby, cry baby, but I don't fucking care. Cry baby, cry baby, I laugh through my tears. Cry baby, cry baby, cause I don't fucking fall to the ground, I just let them drown"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Ten: Cry Baby (Part One)

Atom sighed and gazed at his feet for some time in the room's hush, it wasn't until he heard strides drawing closer and somebody stroll into the room.

Tenma shut the door behind him and sat down in a close-by seat in the corner.

Atom didn't even look at him, he tried his best to hide his pain and a bit of shame that was wrapped up vigorously together, alongside the inconvenience Atom now had with coming to terms with the actuality that he was insane. ((Sorry, didn't mean for any of that to rhyme or to use 'what' twice in the same sentence…. ~Emily))

He truly would not like to associate with anybody right now, nobody needs an insane mad hatter or a three year old crybaby for a companion, or relative or anything, at least in Atom's mind, that's what he assumed.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with me." Atom at long last marshaled up the boldness to say.

Tenma glanced over at him.

Atom sighed again and got up from the floor.

He started stretching and moving his arms about before finally sighing and sitting back down.

Very little was really spoken.

"Someone should be returning soon for me, I uh, told them a few things, maybe shed a few tears, I dunno, did I yell? Gosh I feel so drugged right now…" Atom subsequent to talking started laughing at himself.

"What do you mean?" Tenma asked.

"Well I uh, put in a request to be shut down." Atom said in a quiet yet distressed tone.

Tenma's brows furrowed slightly. Enough that Atom noticed and looked away, assuming the worst of what Tenma might let slip from his lips..

"Atom…." Tenma stood from his seat.

Atom cringed at the sound of his name.

"Yell at me! I deserve it. I've been a terrible friend and I shouldn't be alive anymore!" Thoughts rushed through his head.

But to his surprise, he felt two arms envelop him in warmth.

"Please don't be like that…."

The words came out much softer than he expected.

Atom would have looked up at Tenma but he was bouncing left and right with emotions, last time he swore he was drugged happy and now his eyes were drooping and weakness poisoned him.

"I have no motivation to be here, no need to lecture me this time on how to be a better person! Hahaha! I'm uh…. tired and crazy, i've had enough with today and yesterday, I should give my eyes an additional thousand years to simply rest and set aside time off"

Atom made a sound as if to speak and all of a sudden for a minute the madness didn't get to him, just reality talked so anyone might hear in his psyche. ((talk about higher vocab yo! ~Emily))

"No one even cares!" Atom whined, setting the tone for his distress.

"It's like…. I dunno... "

Atom lost his train of thought.

"I just don't wanna be a burden to anyone anymore, I'm sorry I just can't! No one…. wants someone like me around, someone who just laughs through their tears all the time because they're such a three year old, or someone who's needy and needs attention 24/7, I don't wanna be that burden. Never." Atom attempted to conceal his tears once more.

He eventually just gave in and slowly let himself slip into a depressed state of mind as the tears ran down his cheeks, sniffling, he wiped a couple tears from his eyes and constrained a giggle to facilitate the agony.

Atom finally looked up at Tenma.

"You know I'm doing this out of best interest and safety of everyone, I'm not d-doing this to hurt you or harm anyone else."

Tenma let Atom go and held him by his shoulders within an arm's-length away.

"I really don't want to say this…. but I have no choice…. This is the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"I know right." Atom tried forcing another laugh but almost choked on his own tears.

"This isn't something to laugh about."

"I can't help it okay?! I really need to stop crying…" Atom took a moment to wipe his eye before sighing.

We've mentioned him in the two previous chapters, the person who talked to Atom in the hospital who we shall now refer to as "doctor", walked into the room.

"Oh! Well this is uhhhh awkward, I uhhh, didn't expect company…." The doctor said in an awkward tone when he saw Atom wasn't the only one in the room.

"I uh, heard your request…. so I pulled a few strings and uhhhh someone should be coming in for you soon….."

Tenma stood and approached the quirky man.

He took a step back in cowering fear.

"I am Atom's guardian. Don't you think it would have been wise… no… _required_ that you got my permission before hand?"

"I uh, _didn't know you were here_ , and I uhhh, I just do what the people out front tell me, trust me i've only been here a few months, bear with me while I go run outside and uhhh, do something else…." The doctor quickly left the room.

"No one told me _he_ was gonna show up! Oh crap oh crap, you know I just got this job after working my butt off in college and now they're probably gonna kill me, how wonderful!"

"Don't worry he's new here, he doesn't know what he's doing, honestly." Atom said to Tenma.

"Let me guess. You're using that to your advantage?"

"Ummmmm, maybe?"

Tenma sat himself besides Atom.

"Do you mind if we have a talk?"

"Sure, just ummmmm, don't yell."

"I won't. I promise."

Atom nodded.

"I was in the almost exact same situation you are in years ago."

"Really?"

"Yes. Of course I never resorted to medicine, however, I understand how you're feeling."

Atom sighed.

A faint sound of a conversation was heard outside of the room.

" _Well what do you want me to do?! We can't say no to the kid if he got down on his knees and asked us to shut him down!"_

" _And I can't lose a job I just got, you see they never taught us these kinds of things in school, you just learn the basics and the rest is up to you….."_

" _ **Just go in there and tell them we're not gonna do it, it's that simple, Mayer! This isn't rocket science?!"**_

" _But, we can't just… turn him away like that, if he wants death, give him death, he has his reasoning and beliefs and it's our job to respect that…."_

" _ **Well then you're on your own with this one doc…."**_

" _Ahhhh, can't go back in there, I'd probably piss my pants! Ahh what do I do what do I do? Ahhhhh they don't teach you these things in schoollllllllllll."_

"I can here him from outside, gosh he really has quite the indoor voice." Atom complained.

He got up and strolled to the entryway, opening it and looking out to see the doctor about to go into extreme panic.

"Ummmm, doctor, are you OK?" Atom asked the doctor.

"Atom! Ah, I'm gonna have a heart attack soon, just watch!" he replied

"Y-you sure you wanna do this because ummmmm, I'm not sure…."

Atom sighed and turned around.

"I'm as sure as you were when you told me 'my body just needed to adjust to it'" Atom slammed the door in annoyance.

"Guess we just need to give the kid what he wants…."

Atom sat back down in his chair.

"And now we wait." he folded his arms.

"Atom. This is a terrible idea." Tenma looked over at Atom.

"Well there's nothing I can do at this poi-"

The doctor had walked in suddenly with a few people standing behind him.

"Well…. I uh, I tried my best to tell them no but they insisted! tough cookies if I do say so my uh, selfie, I mean self!" he seemed to be stumbling on his words again.

"So they're uh, here to take you now…." for once his voice wasn't nervous but somewhat saddened to tell Atom the news.

Atom was about to get up from his seat but something held him back.

Tenma kept Atom down on his seat with a hand on his shoulder as he stood up.

"You are not taking Atom. He is my _son_ and he isn't going anywhere without my authorization."

"Well well ummmmm, you can talk it out with these guys, I need to uh, go grab a few charts…." The doctor yet again stormed out of the room.

"I'M NOT LOSING MY JOB TODAY!"

Atom tried standing up again.

The people that remained after the doctor left let out a sigh.

"Is he coming or not? We don't get paid enough in this shitty place to wait for slowpokes."

"No. Of course he isn't coming. Atom is a minor. He may be a robot, but he is still a child. Not only are you forbidden from touching him, it's illegal to do this."

"Fine by us, not like any of us care to begin with." the two of them left the room.

Steam might as well had been shooting from Tenma's ears. He turned his upper body to look back at Atom.

Atom sighed.

"Life must really hate me, hmmm?"

"You are not allowed, under _any_ circumstances, to set foot in this god-forsaken hospital ever again!" Tenma lashed out at Atom, pointing his finger sternly at him.

Atom took a step back in shock at the raising of Tenma's voice.

"You said you wouldn't yell."

Tenma took a sharp inhale of air through his nose.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, being under all this crap I probably won't remember any of this anyways…."

"I'm also taking you off of that medicine."

"No no, it's not that- otherwise i'd be passed out right now, gosh whatever they gave me to shut me up is really messing with my head now…" Atom cringed from the headache he now had.

"I'm still taking you off of it."

"I know I know, crapppp! God this really hurts!"

"Let's get out of here." Tenma grabbed Atom by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

"Buh bye!" Atom waved goodbye to the doctor.

"Wait! Where you going?! Aren't you going to get shut down? Or at least let us discuss your bill?!"

Tenma stopped for a moment and looked at the doctor with a menacing glare.

"I'd sue you and this entire establishment, but I'd rather not get an earful from your boss. So take this as a courtesy."

"Oh yeah, speaking of boss, where is he? Hmm better go check!" The doctor, again, stormed away from Tenma out of fear.

Tenma continued down the hall and out of the hospital.

Atom suddenly let out a few tears and rubbed his eye.

The two didn't stop walking until they got to the car.

Atom was the first to get in the car, he sat in the back seat and didn't even sit down, he lied down on his side and took up a good chunk of the three seats that were behind the driver and passenger seat.

Tenma sat behind the wheel and turned the car on.

Atom at first refused to speak but decided against it when he sniffled and let out an "I'm sorry." before staring at the ground and hoping the medicine would wear off soon.

After driving a while, nothing for Atom seemed to be picking up well.

"Ouch!" He blurted out in a sudden cry of pain.

Tenma jolted the car a little out of shock.

"Are you alright?"

"No not really, I don't think my heads ever hurt this bad. Ouch!" Atom curled up into a ball and cringed again.

Tenma sighed.

"You think you know what they put in sedatives for crazy aholes like me?"

"...No..."

"Well that's just great….."

Soon they arrived back home.

Atom just waited out in car for Tenma to come get him since he was lazy and now the pain in his head really made its appearance.

Tenma got out of the car and opened up the back door

"Ugh." Atom struggled to get up before finally being able to sit up and exit the car.

The two of them finally walked inside the house to hear music playing semi-loud.

"Aw seriously Citizen, you come at the worst time?!" Astro complained, pausing the music that was playing from his phone.

"Oh so he's back! Waz up D.T? It's MC Bri!" Brianna strolled from the hallway to where Tenma was and welcomed him. ((D.T. is short for Dr. Tenma, ka'y? k. ~Emily))

Astro bursted out laughing.

Tenma didn't look amused.

"Wha, come on D.T., have a sense of humor! What are you, a living piece of stone?!" Brianna complained.

"Yeah brah you look so drained, maybe _you_ need this rootbeer more than me…." Astro added before taking a swig of his root beer.

Atom had already left and went to the living room where he sat down on the couch.

Cindy walked in from the hallway and saw Tenma looked like he was about go on a huge rage of some sort.

"Oh boy…" she whispered to herself and slowly made her way over to Tenma.

He furrowed his eyebrows and was about to yell something when Cindy covered his mouth with her hand. He looked at her with an extreme anger even she hadn't seen before.

"No no no, let him speak his mind, it's a free country Cindy." Astro intervened.

"Stay out of your father's business, Astro." Cindy said as she tried leading Tenma to the kitchen.

"No no he's just angry I threw a party without him, it's all good, right Bri?" Astro looked at Brianna.

"This isn't…. the time… Astro." Cindy struggled to keep her grip on Tenma, afraid he might just end up picking her up and pushing her away.

"Pffft looks like Mrs C. is having a hard timey time, hahaha, timey time, Pookie i'm making it an official word as of now, OK? OK." Brianna said.

"Gah! Why must you be so stubborn!?"

Cindy removed her hand from Tenma's mouth.

"CINDY WHAT IN GOD'S NA-"

She quickly pulled his head down and pressed her lips firmly against his in an attempt to shut him up.

"Ok, now that's just fucking gross." Astro had a look of disgust on his face.

Brianna bursted out laughing.

Cindy moved her head back.

Tenma just stared at her in shock.

"OK OK, let's all take a moment, process this, and uhhhh, some other shit I forgot and uh, yeah, Bri you got anything."

"If you turn the letter T sideways you can-"

"Woah woah woah _Brianna_ , hahaha, we don't talk about that here, haha, save that for health class, k'ay?" Astro quickly cut her off.

Cindy rolled her eyes.

"Will you please just come into the kitchen with me?….."

"... _Fine_ …" Tenma followed Cindy to the kitchen.

"Pffft, I hate it when adults try to show up to the youngsters, sick sick middle-aged adults….." Astro shook his head.

"Well when you think about it, they've been here longer than we have, so they must have more experience, I guess." Brianna shrugged.

"Oh yeah my sonofabitch twin came back! YO ATOM WHAT'S UP BRAH?!" Astro called out to Atom.

Atom didn't respond.

"IF YOU DON'T SAY SOMETHING BACK I'M TELLING CITIZEN YOU'RE DEAD!"

Atom sighed.

"WHAT WAS THAT, I CAN'T HEAR YOU?! CITIZEN I THINK ATOM'S DEAD!" Astro yelled with a dead-on tattle-tale voice.

All the three of them heard was some muffled yelling from the kitchen. After a few moments it calmed down.

Astro sighed and just walked into the kitchen with his root beer where he smashed it hard against the sink to grab both of his parent's attention.

"I think Atom is fucking dead, you should check that shit out." He said before then just walking away, leaving his mess behind.

Tenma and Cindy had been in the middle of a hug when Astro walked in and interrupted. Now they just stood staring at each other with confused looks on their faces.

Tenma stuck his head out of the door and looked at Atom.

"Atom?"

Atom didn't respond, he wasn't even on the couch, but on the floor crying again for no real reason.

"Atom, are you alright?"

Atom sighed and wiped his face.

Tenma walked up to him.

Atom sniffled with a slight look of insecurity written all over his face.

"Atom. Can you follow me, please?" Tenma leaned down a little to try and get a look of Atom's face.

Atom looked up at Tenma and nodded, slowly getting up from the floor.

He followed Tenma into the kitchen.

Atom could hear the faint sounds of Astro and Brianna purposely speaking in loud voices about him in a funny yet mocking manner.

Tenma pulled a chair out for Atom. He walked over and sat down, looking at the table.

Astro walked in, strolling in a funny way, you could tell he was about to say something stupid as a joke.

Tenma held his hand up. "Don't even try."

"What? I wanna join this little club meeting you've established here, do I get like a discount if I refer a friend? BRIANNA COME OVER HERE. I GET A DISCOUNT IF YOU COME TO THIS RANDOM CLUB MEETING!"

"No, Astro. This is between us and Atom. Just go back to the other room." Tenma sat in the chair next to Cindy.

Brianna walked in.

"wHAT WAS THAT POOKIE FACE? ALL I HEARD WAS 'BRIANNA' 'COME' AND 'DISCOUNT'?!" She yelled.

Tenma stood up from his seat, pushing it back behind him, and slammed both of his palms on the table.

Brianna and Astro looked over at him.

"You two. Go back in the living room. Me and Cindy are having a very important conversation with Atom."

"Oh, like a club meeting?" Brianna asked.

"That's what I was thinking!" Astro added.

"No. This is not a club. If you two want one-on-one conversations with us two, we can arrange that, but for now, please go in the other room. My patience is wearing very thin, so I suggest you get your asses moving."

"Haha, 'we can arrange that' well I'll have you know i've arranged a lot of things with that sonofabi-"

"You know what Brianna, how about we go and just uhhhhh, _not talk about what we do right now_ …" Astro walked up to Brianna and started pushing her away.

"Pfft, like they don't know already anyways, they're not stupid….." Brianna laughed.

" _Well can you not remind them_?"

"Bah! You're no fun." Brianna folded her arms.

Atom sighed and put his head down, finding sudden comfort in having his head lying on top of his arms.

Tenma watched as Astro and Brianna walked through the door, then sat back down in his seat.

Atom let out what started out as a sigh and ended somehow with a yawn.

Tenma rested his head on his hand and sighed.

Cindy looked up at him and took a hold of his free hand.

He looked over at her as she tried to give him a smile.

Atom looked up for a moment and let out a chuckle. ((It was more of a 'aww das cute, 10/10 adorbs' chuckle lol ~Emily))

Cindy and Tenma glanced over at him.

Atom quickly put his head back down, not wanting them to see the look on his face.

Cindy leaned her head over and rested it on Tenma's shoulder, as if saying "What are we gonna do about this poor kid?"

Atom tried to cover up the fact that his heart almost melted by saying "Weren't you gonna talk to me about something?"

"Yes. Yes we were…." Tenma looked back at Atom.

Atom tried not to slip out a "Well you know you don't have to, this is fine." (In reference to the fact Atom most likely ships Tenma and Cindy more than he should.)((HE DOESN'T SHIP IT ENOUGHHHH (honestly I am the #1 Tencla shipper. Fuck all u bitches.)~ Kait))

Atom gradually swung his feet forward and backward as he turned away, waiting for either of the adults to speak.

"I'M A SALTY LITTLE SHIT!" Astro shouted from the living room.

Brianna started laughing.

"OK OK I got one…. ummmmmmm….. I'M A DUMBASS LITTLE SHIT!" she then yelled.

Tenma looked around to see what all the ruckus was about.

"Nah nah nah, you gotta go bigger Bri, I'M A DUMBASS SALTY MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Nah nah, watchu talkin' 'bout bitch, that was nothing!"

"No no, that was the bomb OK bitch? It was 10/10 perfection."

"Haha, you _wish_!"

"Pffft, asshole."

" _Excuseeeeee me_?! May I remind you my looks are quite deceiving, I have no problem with-"

"Whooping my ass to a giant pulp?"

"Exactly!"

Cindy quietly got up from the table and swiftly walked away to the living room where Astro and Brianna continued to playfully argue and yell while cracking a few jokes.

Tenma and Atom exchanges looks before hearing Cindy yelling loudly at Astro and Brianna.

Atom immediately had an urge to get up and leave but instead put his head down in sudden disinterest.

Cindy soon came back and sat back down in the same chair she once stood up from, appearing as if no damage had been done and time somehow reversed itself to leave no trace or effect.

Atom slowly brought his head back up again.

"So you were saying?" he asked.

"It's OK if you're upset or if you just want me to leave, I can always find somewhere else to go…." Atom added before Tenma or Cindy could say anything.

"No, Atom. We aren't upset. We're concerned." Tenma looked over at Atom.

Atom sighed.

"Well that's new…" Atom spoke with sarcasm before putting his head back down.

Tenma sighed.

"What's going on Atom? Why would you want to do such a thing to yourself?" Cindy reached over and rested her hand on Atom's arm.

"I think the real question is why _wouldn't_ I do it?" Atom replied.

He lifted his head up.

"I'm tired, can we talk about this another time? Say errr, a few years from now?" Atom asked.

Tenma shook his head.

"We're talking about this _now_."

Atom sighed.

" _You can't tell them anything, they won't believe you, and you don't have the guts to say it anyways, what are you gonna do? Cry about it for a few more hours on end? You're hearts too fucking big for your damn body so there's no point in trying to reason. Just leave and go cry in the corner or something, I dunno, you're just not ready for this."_ Atom thought.

"I dunno!" Atom blurted out.

Tenma and Cindy looked both surprised and confused.

Atom's eyes slowly started to water.

" _There you go again."_

Cindy got up from her seat, walked over to Atom, and put her arms around him. He started to sob on her shoulder as she gently rubbed his back.

She looked up at Tenma with a pained look in her face. He sighed and looked down.

"I'm not a crybaby!" Came a reasoning from Atom, no one could really know what it was exactly that was floating around in Atom's mind, but it sure wasn't pleasant.

"Atom? You-" Cindy tried to say but was but off.

"No, y-you know I can't!"

" _Exactly. That's why you get up and leave, no one wants a crybaby around, you said it yourself! Just admit defeat and you're lack of trust and get the hell out!"_

"Don't yell at me!"

Cindy hugged him tighter and tried her best not to start crying herself.

Atom's splitting headache made it's return, causing him to just break off the hug and sit back down in his chair.

Cindy looked down at him with glassy eyes and after sighing, left the room.

"Ow!" Atom muttered in pain.

"Atom?"

"Ah not now, I have a headache." Atom quickly replied.

Tenma got up and left the room to go find Cindy.

" _Great, you're making progress, glad to hear!"_

"You know you were a lot nicer yesterday!" Atom folded his arms.

He sighed.

"But he does have a point." Atom stood up.

Soon Tenma and Cindy walked back out into the hallway.

"You have trust issues." Atom began.

"Well everyone does, not a first for most people. But, maybe you don't trust someone but you can't just- toss them away or _avoid_ them, I mean who knows."

"You can't….. win most battles but you can put up quite a fight, most of the time."

"And, you may not have the answers to everything, but it's important you say the ones you do." Atom sat back down.

"But- but it's hard you know, you shouldn't say no but you can't say yes either because then your emotions get in the way and you start crying like a baby 'cause it's not like you can say 'hey go take a vacation, I don't want you here anymore!' You just can't! You can only sit there and cry." Atom slowly started sobbing again.

"And, you wanna tell them, yo-you wanna say it all but your lack of trust and stupid emotions get in the way and nothing get's done, nothing! You can't get help if you keep turning it down!"

"You can only say 'I'm sorry' and let the rest fall in place!"

Tenma and Cindy walked back in.

Atom didn't even notice them, his head was down, considering he was sitting backwards in his chair, his head was rested on the top of the back of the chair, covered only by one of his arms as he sniffled.

"Atom?"

Atom slowly lifted his head up to see who it was.

"Yes?" He asked, sniffling once again.

"We heard what you were saying."

"Oh gawd." Atom put his head back down.

"But we understand." Tenma smiled.

"We're here to help you through this." Cindy walked up to Atom and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

Atom sighed and nodded his head.

"I know." he muttered.

Atom lifted his head up.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

Atom let out a faint smile.

Later on getting closer to dinner, Astro and Brianna walked into the kitchen.

"SO CITIZEN? WHATCHA' MAKING FOR DINNER?!" Astro obnoxiously asked in a loud voice.

"YEAH D.T. WHAT'S COOKING?!" Brianna added.

Tenma sighed.

"I'm making soup, chicken soup."

"EW DATS NASTY! YOU'RE GROSS!" Astro replied.

"Yeah yeah, you gotta go big man! How about you make ummmmm, fried chicken cupcakes! OMG that doesn't sound half bad!" Brianna exclaimed.

"Um, no, don't listen to her OK, chicken is fucking garbage, you should make some tacos."

"Oooo yeah, tacos are nice."

Atom walked into the kitchen.

"Oh look the little crazy shit decided to show up, what are you gonna whine about this time, the walls aren't painted green?" Astro, again, spoke in a rude, obnoxious tone, clearly indicating he was being mean and downright rude to Atom.

Brianna snickered.

"N-no." Atom said as he opened the fridge.

Astro closed it.

"There's nothing in there, you know that right?" Astro asked.

Atom sighed and just walked away, leaving Astro to just laugh along with Brianna.

"Pfft, he's an easy target, shouldn't be that hard to break him." Astro added.

Astro looked behind him.

"Right, Citizen?"

"Don't be rude to your brother."

"Pft, parents thinking they know it all, pffft pffft PFFFTT, I mean honestly, what's wrong with trying to get a laugh out of the day?!"

Atom walked back into the kitchen and tried opening the fridge again.

"Ugh, Atom there's nothing in there! Do I really gotta say it _twice_?" Astro sighed and pushed Atom away.

Brianna left to go use the bathroom while Atom just gave up and left again.

((END OF PART ONE!))


	11. Crybaby (Part Two)

" _Someone's turning the handle to that faucet in your eyes, they're pouring out where everyone can see. Your heart's too big for your body, It's why you won't fit inside, they're pouring out where everyone can see."_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Eleven: Cry Baby (Part Two)

It was early in the morning when Atom was the first to get up, a few days had gone by and he seemed to have gotten, though no one could really tell.

"Well i'm not sure now, I mean I don't wanna be a couch potato but I certainly don't have enough time to like get ready and stuff, it's a long process OK? Not something you could do overnight." He said.

" _Pffft, it's not worth it you know, schools a pain in the butt."_

"I know, and that's the point, I wanna do something that's time consuming and stressful, better than being lazy, that's for sure."

" _Did you just say 'that's' three times?"_

"Yeah… And?"

" _I dunno…"_

Atom chuckled.

"And i'm guessing it can't be _that_ bad, I already know a lot academically, it's not like i'm learning things from scratch like you are…."

" _I still think it's stupid, you should stay home and take advantage of being able to sit on your little butt and do nothing without having a raging mother on the other side of the door."_

Atom tried not to laugh.

"Oh gosh, mmmm, need to take medicine! Whoo!" He walked into the kitchen and looked for the medicine cabinet.

" _Oh yeah I forgot you were taking meds, how's that working out for you?"_

"It's hell but I'm dealing with it, and besides, between you and me I'm not supposed to be taking this since Tenma wants me off of it, but I refuse to have another anxiety attack so i'm just gonna take this and maybe crawl back in bed, I dunno, maybe even suffer, the world may never know….."

"Hmmmm, did my eyesight worsen or did this text suddenly get smaller, I swear it was much more easier to read yesterday…."

"Ah, oh well." Atom shrugged.

" _So I guess i'll hang up then?"_

"I guess, I mean if you want to, i'm not gonna force you to hang up you have a right to keep this conversation going and now I sound like a Civics teacher, how lovely!"

After a few minutes passed and the conversation ended, Atom put the medicine back in it's place and sat down at the table again.

Astro walked in.

"Sup, nerd?" He stolled over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of rootbeer.

Atom looked up at him.

"Really? Nerd? Last time I checked you were sitting at the TV reading a textbook while watching anime, pfft." Atom folded his arms.

"I am, in fact, a geek. That is very different from a nerd, nerd."

"Says who, your ditsy girlfriend?"

"Yeah. 'Cause she's a nerd too." Astro made a stupid looking face at Atom, trying to mock him.

Atom sighed.

"I'm not in the mood today."

"You're never in the mood."

"Mmmhmmm, your point is?"

Astro took the cap to the bottle off and flicked it into the trashcan.

"Point is I'm gonna bother you no matter what mood you're in." He took a big gulp of the soda.

"Astro, you're really getting on my nerves, can you just go back to your room and leave me alone." Atom spoke in a distressed tone.

"What're you, my mom now? No."

Atom sighed again. "Astro-"

"You can't tell me what to do. So just shut the fuck up and know your place, bitch."

Atom stood up.

"And who are _you_ to tell me to shut the fuck up, I've been dealing with your bull shit for days and _this_ is how you pay me, you know I care about you and yet you have the sudden nerve to call me a bitch when we all know who's the real female dog in this household!"

"YOU'RE THE CLONE HERE! I NEVER ASKED TO BE CLONED! DOES IT LOOK LIKE I ASKED TO BE CLONED?! NO! I'M THE ORIGINAL SO WHAT I SAY GOES! ALRIGHT, BITCH?"

"STOP CALLING ME A BITCH!"

"I'M ONLY CALLING YOU WHAT YOU ARE!"

Atom stood back as his eyes started to tear up, Astro looked at him as if that's the exact reaction he wanted out of him.

"I-I…. I only want to help, I don't wanna hurt you or hurt anyone, am I really that much of a b-burden?" Atom tried not to cry as his voice cracked and he sniffled.

"How about you go ask Ele-fart. You think he pushed you around for no reason? HA!"

"Well if you didn't want me around, you could have just said so and I'd leave…."

"Pft! Like I can say that when Citizen and Barbie are around all day! They'd kick my ass if I said that out loud."

Atom sat back down.

"Well… maybe…. maybe because, I dunno , I'm definitely not the favorite one, but I do care, you know I care a lot."

"Yeah and you're a fucking crybaby."

"I'm not a crybaby!"

"Oh yeah, prove it! Haha, you're crying right now you idiot!"

"N-No, I'm not… I'm not… I'M NOT CRYING OKAY?!"

"Mmmmm. No. I see a tear. No I see like five. Nah. There's way more than five."

"No no, I'm fine, I'm fine, it's just… allergies…" Atom rubbed one of his eyes to wipe the tears away.

"Yeah. _Allergies._ " Astro rolled his eyes.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING OKAY?!"

Astro chuckled.

"It's not funny."

"Well of course it is, you being you, acting like a three year old, honestly…. I don't know what he sees in you…."

Atom couldn't help himself anymore, he let the rest of the tears slide down his face.

"Haha! There we go! The mighty Astro strikes again in proving that the bitchy clone is a poor little helpless cry baby!"

Atom stood up from the chair and bolted out the door.

"DON'T LET HELL HIT YA ON THE WAY OUT!" Astro yelled before laughing at his own joke.

Tenma walked into the kitchen.

"What happened in here?" He looked at Astro.

"Mornin' Citizen!"

"Answer my question, Astro."

"Ahhhh, just uhhhh, talking about stuff, very interesting you know, emotions and how they work, ah, some odd things they are."

Tenma glared at Astro for a moment before leaving the room.

"Seesh, Is everyone in a mood today?" Astro asked out loud before taking another sip of his root beer.

After searching around for Atom for a while and not finding him, Tenma walked back into the kitchen.

"Where's your brother?"

"I dunno, haha, maybe he drank root beer and got drunk, I dunno!" Astro seemed unusually happy as if he was on some kind of drug, or maybe _he_ was the drunk one.

Tenma snatched the bottle out from Astro's hand.

"Hey my baby!" Astro reached out to grab it.

"Where is Atom?"

"Hmmmm I dunno, do you know where he is?"

"Tell me or I'll throw out all your root beer."

"Hahahaha, sure, but I really don't know, he's a huge crybaby so maybe he went outside to go cry, If that's what cry babies even do?"

"You drove him out of the house again, didn't you?"

"Aye, aye, the first time he was gonna take an overdose and now I think he underdosed 'cause clearly he can't take a jokey joke!"

Tenma walked over to the sink and poured the drink out into the sink.

"Noooooooo my baby, how could you?!"

"Clean up your act and start respecting your brother."

"Pfffft, not my fault, he's just overreacting, seesh, he'll come back, just give him timey uhhhh gimmeh time." Astro set out a sudden laugh.

"I mean it, Astro. Stop being an ass." Tenma threw the empty bottle into the trash

"I'm not being an ass alright, I just make a few jokes here and there, you know, big tough strong!"

Astro sighed.

"When this shit wears off, people gonna pay! Gon pay for shit hahaha. You think anyone would actually pay for shit? Like I wonder how much like Lady Gaga's shit would sell for?"

"What is my life anymore?" Tenma facepalmed then walked out of the room.

"Well aren't you gonna find cry baby, I mean Atomo. I mean Atomu. I mean gosh fuck, ATOM! ATOM! Yes Atomomo, ah fuck."

"You, you gonna lookey for him?" Astro asked as he followed Tenma out of the room.

Tenma sighed angrily as he looked back at Astro.

"Ah, it's the devil!" Astro looked shocked. ((Mind you he's like kinda drunk so he dunno shit, or even wtf he's talking about so…. ~Emily))

"No more caffeine for you ever again."

"Haha, you sound like my girlfriend. Wait? Brianna?"

They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds.

"No." Tenma said, monotone.

"No, okay good thenWAITAMINUTETHENWHOTHEFUCKAREYOUYOUFUCKINGSTRANGER?!"

"... Nicolas Cage…."

"Hmmmm OK, so I need your help you see, my dumbass twin walked out on me and my dad's like super pissed with a capital…. 'P'... and I want my root beer back so if you could help my sorry ass, I-I, I let u have a sip, and you can come to party later, yeah, yeah I like parties let's go with that, right?"

"Astro. Go lie down on the couch and stay away from the root beers in the fridge."

"Hey you know my name! Gosh you pick up on things fast, haha, whatever you say!" Astro laughed again as he walked to the couch and sat down.

"What do I do?" Tenma paced back and forth across the room.

"What do _you_ think you should do?" Cindy said, sitting criss-cross on their bed, watching Tenma walk from one wall to the other and back again.

"I'm not sure! That's why I'm asking you!" He raised his voice a little.

"Ok. Ok. You want my _wonderful wisdom_ then you can have it. Just wait for him to come back."

"You think so?"

"Yes. He's smart. He wouldn't do anything to hurt himself. And he knows he's not allowed to stay out that long."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"THEN WHY DID YOU TELL ME THAT?!"

"Because that's what you would have wanted me to say."

"I swear to god, woman!"

"You really should go look for him again."

"God, it takes so much time to try and find him."

"It's your best bet, though. He's a kid. He won't always come home. He might be smart but it's hard to trust a teenager's judgment."

"I know… I know…. You're right…. Thank you, dear." Tenma walked up to Cindy.

"No. Thank _you_." She stretched her head up and gave Tenma a little smooch on the lips. ((Aw so cute uwu ~Kait a.k.a. The #1 Tencla Shipper (fight me.)))

Tenma walked out into the living room.

"YO, NICK CAGE! YOU'RE B-BACK!"

"We're going to look for your brother."

"Wha? I HAVE A BROTHER!?"

Tenma grabbed Astro by the arm and pulled him out of his seat and towards the front door.

"Wait? What're ya doing? Are you abduct...abduct-ed-ing me!? HELP IM BEING KIDNAPPED BY A CRAZY CELEBRITY WHO JUST TOLD ME I HAVE A BROTHER I DIDN'T KNOW EXISTED! HEY NICK, WHERE ARE WE GOING ANYWA-?!"

Tenma stopped walking and turned around, placing his hand over Astro's mouth.

"Shh."

He took his hand away and continued onto the car.

"Ok, Cage. Whatever…. Whatever you say, man. Whatever say you. Yeah."

After a short fly up into the sky and a bit of walking, Atom finally made it to where he wanted to go and knocked on the door.

"Ah crap. IM COMING ATOM DONT WORRY JUST AH, I DUNNO, WAIT?" Yelled a voice from inside.

Atom chuckled.

Soon the person opened the door and smiled at Atom.

"Oh uh, don't mind the messy, I need to uh, clean up the floor."

Atom chuckled again and walked inside.

"Sorry for the short notice, I just uh, thought i'd spend time with bae…"

Stephen chuckled as he closed the door behind him, walking into the kitchen while Atom sat down on the couch.

"They're probably looking for me now, but oh well, I got nothing to lose!" Atom said as he flopped onto the couch.

"So then why'd you leave?" Stephen asked.

"I dunno…. Im just…. I guess I care a little too much…."

"Oh." Stephen opened the fridge and grabbed a drink.

The house phone rang.

"Ugh, what does she want this time, hello?"

" _Oh! Uh…."_

"Yes?"

" _You uh, cleaned the floor, right?"_

"Ummmmmm yeahhhhh, I did some stuff….."

" _Oh good, now I think I left some rotten food in the fridge, you think you could throw it out for me?"_

"And you tell me this _now_?"

" _Well I uh…. I kinda sorta maybe thought you'd notice by now and uhhh…."_

"Yes?"

" _Um so you should go clean that up, do i have anything else to say ummmm? And do the floors!"_

"I just told you I di- you're paying me for this, right?"

" _Sure sure, ill give you a ten when i get home."_

"Mmmhmmm."

" _Well I guess you can take it from there, don't wanna sound like a broken record!"_

"Haha yes totally not like you _aren't already_ hahaha, bananas!"

" _Ok ummmm, bye."_

"Yup….."

Stephen hung up the phone.

"What kind of phone conversation was that?" Atom asked.

"Only the phone calls you make in this family…."

Atom chuckled as Stephen walked over to sit next to Atom.

"So you're just gonna... _sit_ there?" He asked.

"No… Maybe…. yes…."

"So so yo Nicky, c-can I calley you Nicki?"

"No."

"Well too bad, I calley you dat anyway. Do you know where we're going?"

"We're going to find your brother."

"Ah reuniting! HAZAH!" Astro exclaimed.

Tenma sighed for what had seemed to the millionth time since they left the house.

"But no Nicky where are we going, like really, be honest, are we going to a party? Like we should go to a club, I tink das where bros would go, right?"

"No. I don't know where we're going because I don't know where your brother is."

"So let's go to a club, das where bros would go, right?"

"No, we're not going to a club!"

"Well then how else we gonna reunite Nicky? I don't think bros go anywhere else!"

"Be quiet or I'll drop you off on the side of the road."

"Oooo fierce! Such passion!"

"She thinks we should go look for him, then why doesn't she do it herself…., huh?" Tenma mumbled to himself.

"Haha, I had a wet dream last night and it was disgusting, trust me, and when I woke up I felt terrible so I thought-"

"HOLY SHIT, WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!"

Astro fell forward and knocked out, dead asleep.

"I should have turned myself back in the second they let me out for good behavior. Maybe I should shanked another guy. Murdered someone maybe…. I could've just moved to New York…. Or _Belgium_ …. Yes… Waffle country…. Waffles are nice…. WAFFLES ARE MUCH NICER THAN THIS!" Tenma continued to ramble on to himself.

Suddenly the sound of a phone ringing overpowered Astro's snoring as it came from a phone placed inside a cup holder.

Tenma glanced down at it for a moment then back at the road. He reached down and answered the call, not seeing who the caller was

All he heard was Atom laughing like crazy.

"Ah! Ah OK OK hahaha, no!" He squealed.

"S-STEPHEN! HAHAHAHA!"

"OK OK, I can't breathe OK, no.. no more tickling or i'm gonna faint…"

Tenma hung up the phone, a strange look on his face.

"Whoo, that was a little too much…. Oh! Looks like I left my phone in my pocket…" Atom pulled out his phone.

"Aw crap, looks like I called Tenma, guess I better call him back…. so he doesn't get the wrong idea….."

Atom dialed Tenma's number again.

Tenma picked up the phone.

"This time i'm not gonna say anything." Atom whispered.

"So then what's the point in calling?" Stephen whispered back.

"I dunno, he doesn't know where you live so it doesn't matter anyways."

"Well What do I say?"

"I dunno, Hi?"

"Ummmm HI!"

"No no not like like, you gotta say it with meaning!"

"Alright, alright. HELLO!"

Atom fell off the couch laughing.

"I DUNNO WHO YOU ARE BUT ATOM WANTS ME TO SAY HI SO HI!"

"I HOPE YOU'RE NOT GONNA ROB MY HOUSE BECAUSE I JUST CLEANED IT SO UMMMM, Atom I can't do this, no one's even responding…."

Atom got up from the floor.

"Fine, we should just hang up then, NEVER GONNA TAKE US ALIVE!" Atom yelled into the phone before hanging up.

"What the fuck?..." Tenma put his phone back down in the cupholder.

"Do you think he's really gonna come?"

"Probably not, he doesn't even know where you live, there's nothing to worry about, haha." Atom sat back down next to Stephen and leaned his head on his shoulder.

"And they can't take me away from you, I love you too much to just leave you alone."

Stephen looked over at Atom and smiled, putting an arm around him.

Tenma reached over and shoved Astro to wake him up.

"Hmmm? What the fuck do you want bitch?"

"Do you know where Stephen lives?"

"Mmmmm no, and I don't want to know, ask blondie slut, she's seen him a few times…."

Tenma pulled the car over.

 _Kaitlyn?_

 _ **Yee?**_

 _You wouldn't happen to have Stephen's address would you?_

 _ **Ah. I think so.**_

 _ **It's**_ _ **1304 Main Street.**_

 _Thank you._

 _ **No problemo, amigo.**_

"But, if they do come, you don't even know an Atom, OK?" Atom said.

"Who?"

"Exactly." Atom chuckled.

"I mean, i'd hate to have you lie, but I really don't wanna go back home right now, things I guess just aren't the same, then again…. when are things ever normal? I dunno….." He shrugged.

"And i'm really tired so I deserve a nap, and a good one, because why not?"

Stephen chuckled, he moved over a little so Atom could get comfortable.

Atom readjusted his position

He yawned and cuddled with the human, burying his head into Stephen's chest and snoring.

"So why would you even wanna go to his house, are you trying to like stalk him or some shit? Talk about creepy….."

"I'm trying to look for your brother and it seems he's at Stephen's so no I'm not being creepy."

Astro rolled his eyes.

After sitting in the quiet for a while, the sound of a car pulling into a driveway was not far.

"Well talk about early….." Stephen said as he got up from the couch and walked to the front door.

"Hmmm?" Atom asked faintly.

"Someone's at the door." Stephen replied.

"Oh, OK." Atom nodded and readjusted his head before falling asleep again.

"Well I guess I could wait till she knocks….Wait a minute, she has a key! Oh well…..." Stephen shrugged, leaning his back against the door.

"You know, you _could_ just come back and sit down…" Atom faintly spoke.

"Ah, I got nothing to lose." Stephen walked over to the couch and sat down beside Atom.

"So do you want me to get down too, or you got this?" Astro asked.

"Just stay put."

"Ah, alright." Said the robot who turned on the radio and cranked up the volume.

Tenma stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door of the house.

"Please tell me she'll use her keys this time, please!" Stephen pleaded.

Tenma knocked.

"No… she didn't use her keys….." Stephen got up sadly and walked to the door.

He slowly opened it.

"Oh go figure, you're not even my mom." He said, poking his head out of the small opening of the door.

"Is Atom here?"

"Oh! Umm ummm, Nooooooo- I mean, I don't know any Atoms, goodbye!" Stephen tried slamming the door shut, but Tenma stopped him with his foot.

Stephen looked even more nervous as if he was gonna break out into a full blown sweat, staring at Tenma and blinking.

"Well, if you do see an 'Atom', then please tell him that everyone at home loves and misses him and would like him to come home soon." Tenma said, his voice raised enough for it to carry into the living room.

Atom lifted up his head slightly.

"That doesn't sound like your mom- crap!" Atom covered his mouth after speaking.

"Uh uh, that's uh, just a uh, friend visiting, I'm an only child so….. ummmmm….. bye!" Stephen slammed the door again.

Tenma sighed then walked back to the car.

"They're onto you!" Stephen said after closing the door.

"Well go figure." Atom shrugged.

"Well then what are you gonna do? I'm not prepared to answer that door again if he knocks, I'm sweating bullets, oh gosh, oh gosh, water! Water, I shally go getsey some!" Stephen made a mad dash for the kitchen.

"So what went down? Was he even there?" Astro asked.

"I'm not exactly sure."

"What do you mean? I think I heard him in there, you should have said something….I don't think you were trying hard enough."

"How could you possibly hear him when you were blasting this music?" Tenma motioned his hand to the radio.

"Who says I was blasting it when you were gone? What if i just turned it down, rolled down the window and- crap."

"I'm a nosy sonofabitch OK, deal with it." Astro folded his arms.

Tenma sighed again.

"If you only tried harder….. if only…."

He drove away and parked further down the street.

"Oooo what we parkin for?"

"We're going to wait here for a little while."

"Oooo, who we spyin on?"

"We're not spying on anybody."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. We are going to wait here for half an hour and if Atom doesn't say anything or try walking back home by then, then we'll go back home."

After taking a sip of water, Atom got up from the couch to walk over to where Stephen set his cup down.

"So when _does_ your mom come home from work?" he asked.

"Ahhhhhh, soon, very soon." Stephen sounded slightly disappointed.

Atom chuckled.

"Oh, I should go throw the garbage out." Stephen walked over to the garbage bag left by the entryway of the kitchen, then walked out the door.

"Hey wait up!" Atom catched up to Stephen and walked out the door with him.

"You know, we should go downtown today! And we can go to the park and get ice cream!"

"I dunno, I was planning on pizza and video games…" Stephen threw away the garbage bag as he wiped his hands clean, walking back into the house.

Atom slowed down for a moment to see a car parked in the distance that looked like Tenma's.

" _He's trying too hard._ "Atom thought.

" _Don't let him get to you, it's just a tactic to get you to wanna go back home, but you know it's hell there, just don't even bother with it._ "

"You coming back inside or getting a sunburn?" Atom heard Stephen ask from the front of his house.

"Oh! In a sec!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey Citizen, if you look behind you, and you squint your eyes, you'll see a blackish blob walking the driveway of that house you were at, they're so backlit it's scary." Astro said to Tenma. ((Backlit means that the light is coming from the front so naturally anything behind that light appears black or close to black ~Emily))

((But that doesn't really happen in clear daylight because of all the reflected light from surrounding objects and the ground ~kait))

Tenma looked back through the rearview mirror.

Atom took a long look at Tenma's car, contemplating whether he should go back or not.

After making his mind, he walked back up to the front of Stephen's house and walked inside.

"AW ya missed em', they were right there! Dangit!"

Tenma didn't say anything and just drove away back home.

"So what do you wanna-"

There was a thump at the entryway.

"Please don't tell me she forgot to use her keys…." Stephen walked to the door and opened it.

"Please don't tell me you forgot to use your keys…." He began.

"Actually no! You uh, put the thingy so uh…."

"Oh! My bad, _for once_." ((I have a theory that either Stephen is just really done with his mom or 12+ years of being a mom has really worn Stephen's mom down a lot….. ~Emily))

"Well uh, I actually need to go to the store and was wondering if you wanted to come?"

"I dunno, Atom?"

Atom walked up to Stephen.

"Hello miss!" He greeted.

"Hello Atom, quite a surprise to see you." Stephen's mom replied.

"Haha no joke! He came and then- I mean, well he showed up errr, nevermind!" Stephen stumbled on his words.

"I would love to go to the store with you, but only if Stephen goes…. can't leave bae at home by himself….." Atom tried recovering him from the bad sentence.

"Well, Stephen?"

"Ahhhh, people scare me."

"Then it's settled!" Atom grabbed Stephen's hand and happily escorted him out of the house.

After getting into the car and driving to the store (and of course buying everything they needed.) they headed back out to go back home, Atom was dead tired and slept through the whole car ride back.

They pulled into the driveway, turning off the car, Stephen looked over at Atom who had his head leaning up against his seatbelt and starting to snore.

"So what are we gonna do with-"

"Don't worry I got it, just uh, get the food."

Atom was carried inside and dropped onto the couch while Stephen walked in with a bag in his hand.

"T-this is heavy!" he complained as he walked inside.

"Well maybe 'cause you're out of shape…" his mom walked over to him.

"Gee, thanks for the support!" Stephen said sarcastically.

"You're welcome, now go get the rest, I'll take this one."

Stephen sighed and walked out of the house again.

After hours had passed, Atom sighed staring at the TV in Stephen's room for what seemed to be hours on end.

Stephen walked into the room with a smile.

"Pizza!" He exclaimed.

Atom quickly looked behind him to see his boyfriend holding a box of pizza in his hand.

"Pizza!" Atom exclaimed back.

"Don't know why it took so long to deliver, but whatever." Stephen shrugged, sitting down next to Atom and setting the pizza in between them.

"So we ready for that video game?"

"No no, we need to set up first." Stephen got up to turn on the TV and his gaming console.

After setting up and finally playing, they reached their last slice of pizza in the box.

"The last-"

"Slice."

The two of them stared at it.

"Don't we have an agreement on the last slice of pizza?"

"Yeah, we need to cut it up evenly…. you got a knife?"

"Hmmm alright, I think it should be around here, no here, no no no around here, you don't eat the bread, right?"

"Nope."

"Haha, same, so it should be around here!" Atom made a swift move with his knife to cut the pizza into two parts.

"Wait, nope, I was off by two centimeters, dangit!"

"You know, that by far is the dumbest agreement we've made since we went to that candy store two months ago…."

"Oh yeah, we scratched that one out, right?"

"I hope we did... "

"Here, get me the book and i'll do the honors."

"Ugh, fine."

Stephen got up from the floor and walked to his desk where he opened up a drawer and pulled out an old notebook and a pen. ((They have all their agreements written down in a notebook? Talk about organized! [and a great way to keep track, haha] ~Emily))

"You shall do the honors?" He asked, handing both the notebook and pen to Atom.

"Why yes my good friend, thank you." Atom chuckled, taking the pen and notebook from Stephen.

He flipped through the pages to look for what he needed and then crossed it out with the pen.

"There, it's done." Atom closed the notebook and set it aside so he could eat his half of the pizza.

He couldn't help but look at Stephen for a moment.

"What?" Stephen seemed confused as to why Atom was looking at him.

"Oh! N-nothing, just ah, wanted to know if you liked the pizza!"

"Oh, ummmm, it's not too bad, could be better, eh." Stephen shrugged.

Atom let out a sigh of admiration and took Stephen by the hand, staring into his eyes.

Stephen soon realized what was going on and started to blush, Atom scooted closer to him with his cheeks still turning red.

Atom gently pulled him closer to himself and softly kissed him. ((I'm sorry for sinning too much omf ~Emily)) ((This also is a perf Atomphen moment ~Emily from like days later after adding that last A/N))

Tenma opened up the front door and slowly walked into the house, Astro following not too far behind.

Tenma stopped in the middle of the living room after hearing the click of Astro closing the door.

"What am I doing wrong as a father?" He asked Astro, staring in front of him.

"I dunno, everything? I'm no daddy and I don't plan on being one so don't even bother asking _this_ asshole…." Astro replied, then walked past Tenma to his room.

Tenma sighed.

"So then I decided to go downtown, because really there's not much that goes down like, the area thingy, where I live basically. So I took my camera with me and I went to the park, we have to go back again during the daytime, it's really crowded but it's perfect photography material, anyways, so I'm heading downtown, and I see these huge like, I guess 'huge amount of birds' could be used to explain it well… but they were like all over the place, long story short is, scattered birds make interesting pictures." Atom blabbed on to Stephen.

Stephen chuckled in response.

Atom sighed again in admiration, looking over at Stephen before lying down in his lap.

"You know…." he began.

"Sometimes I like to forget i'm a monster…. sometimes I like to think i'm a, a happy Unicorn. Roaming and- prancing around without a care. Letting the wind blow as I run through the fields all day. It feels a lot better than being a monster who, I guess- lounges on their butt all the time, always sad and upset, low self-esteem, A hassle for others to deal with. Sometimes, I like to forget that i'm that monster, you know?" Atom yawned.

"And… and sometimes, haha I got a story for you, _sometimes_ , not always, just…. some of the times, I like to think i'm a mixture of both. I'm part monster, part happy Unicorn, and I like that, it has kind of a…. balance, it's weird, I'm weird. Everything is weird, OK now I just messed this up, I don't even know the point I was trying to get across anymore, great job, Atom."

"Hmmmm, do you know what time it is?"

"Hmmm, yeesh, time for me to go to sleep." Stephen stood up and walked to his bed.

"Ahh, I think i'm gonna stay up just a few more hours and read something before going to bed." Atom replied.

"You sure? You seem really tired."

"No no, i'm fine, I can read this."

"Ooookay, whatever you say." Stephen crawled into bed and covered himself in bed sheets before snoring.

" _Gee, why does everyone I know snore?"_ Atom thought.

"Gosh, Stephen was right, i'm _really_ tired, holy crap my eyes, what does this even say? This isn't even my book it's my fricking lock screen!"

"Bah, I'm tired…. I'll just, crawl in with a… baee and go to…. and go to… sl... sleep." Atom ceaselessly yawned as he made his way to Stephen's bed.

The next day, Atom awakened to being the only one in bed with Stephen gone and the door half open.

He pulled the covers off and got out of bed, walking out of Stephen's room and down the hallway.

"Oh! Guess I'm not the early bird after all…." Atom said as he rubbed one of his eyes.

"What?" Stephen looked up at Atom from his phone. ((Originally i was gonna write something like PSP or like a 3ds but its the future and i'm not that creative when it comes to naming new tech, so i just wrote phone lol ~Emily))

"You're up early."

"No not really, you slept in."

"What?" Atom looked at the clock.

"Oh! I better get going then, haha, it was nice seeing you."

"Mmmhmmm." Stephen nodded.

Atom chuckled as he walked out the front door, waving goodbye and preparing for a long walk to get downtown.

Astro, to his sudden surprise, saw Tenma sitting a bit more casually than usual at the table.

"Holy shit you scared me!" He exclaimed.

Tenma looked up at him for a moment then back at his newspaper.

"Pretty quiet here, just like the old days…." Astro sat down in front of Tenma at the table.

Tenma flipped the page over.

"Are you even alive?"

"Are _you_?"

"No, I'm not human…"

"Exactly."

"SO YOU'RE NOT HUMAN HOLY SHIT MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE!"

"That's not what I was saying…."

"Then what _were_ you saying?"

"I'm not a robot, so I _am_ alive."

Astro sighed.

"Look, I know you're still upset about At-"

"No. I'm not upset. I'm _disappointed_. Disappointed in _you_ , to be more specific." Tenma glanced up again from the paper in front of him.

"Pfft, sure sure, he was gonna leave anyways, regardless of anything else, shouldn't shift blame." Astro sighed again and stretched his arms.

"Don't speak for him. He only wanted somewhere he could feel safe and accepted, but, with help from you, he felt insecure here. And helpless and scared. The same way you felt the day you showed up on my doorsteps. I let you in. I cared for you. I could have told you to leave. But I didn't. Because I love you and I care about you. Not just because I ' _have to'_ as your father, but because I saw something good, something worth saving, in your rebellious self. It's the same for Atom. Under all his anxieties, there's someone happy. Atom had hope and he still does. But all you did was drive him further away. And for what? What could you possibly gain from this?"

Astro stared at the wall for a moment.

"I'm too savage for this conversation….." He said.

"I don't know why I try to reason with you… you even said it yourself, you're not human."

"I'm too savage for this conversation….." Astro repeated before laughing a little.

Tenma got up from his seat and left the room without saying another word.

Astro rolled his eyes. "I made a whole video about it on Monday, what's even new?"

"Hmmm, if I plan my time right, I can stretch this twenty a few days longer." Atom babbled onto himself as he walked the sidewalks of downtown.

"Too bad Stephen couldn't come, it's really nice out."

He kept on strolling the walkway and glance around, the sky was a splendid shade of blue and the sun was sufficiently brilliant to demonstrate the evening was making it's imprint, Atom grinned and helped himself inside the Pizza Place he had strolled into.

((END OF CHAPTER 11!))


	12. Elastic Heart

" _Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart, but your blade - it might be too sharp. I'm like a rubberband until you pull too hard, yeah, I may snap and I move fast. But you won't see me fall apart. 'Cause I've got an elastic heart. I've got an elastic heart, yeah, I've got an elastic heart."_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Twelve: Elastic Heart

"Oh! Hey there Atom!"

"Oh! I uhhh, don't think I know you?" Atom sounded confused.

"Yeah probably not, but you seem to be quite the talk now, fame getting to ya?"

"No no, not really, if anything I'm trying to run away from it, just too hectic for a soul like mines…" Atom walked up to the cashier.

"So you here for a pizza?"

"Ummmm, no, I'm here for a job." 

"Yeesh, how low are your standards?!"

"Low enough to accept a crummy pizza shop as a place to get a job, Starbuck wouldn't hire me, trust me, i'm nowhere near 'barista' material…."

"Well sorry, I think all our positions are full, guess this place isn't so crummy after all hmm?"

"Yeah it still is, your pizza taste like butt, no offense of course, assuming…. you're not the one making them."

"Well I'll have you know, we work very hard to ensure our piz-"

Atom had already walked out the door.

"Well that was a bust." He sighed.

Tenma decided to give his last shot at seeing if Atom was ever gonna return, this time he left Astro at home.

"Did Atom leave already? I didn't see him.?"

"Yeah he left a while ag-"

There was a thump at the door. Stephen and his mom looked towards the doorway.

"Oh, who could be at the door?"

"Probably a weirdo, you might just wanna bring a baseball bat with you and hit them, just saying…."

"Stephen! It's not nice to hit strangers….."

Stephen just rolled his eyes and went back to looking at his phone.

His mom slowly opened the door.

"Oh! Uhhhh, hello." She awkwardly greeted.

"Hello. Is Atom here?" Tenma asked.

"Oh yeah he was just he-"

Stephen cut her off. "Should have got the baseball bat!"

His mom looked behind her and saw Stephen was motioning her to not say anything about Atom.

"I mean ummm, I don't know an Atom, but it sounds like a really nice name, if I happen to have any more kids I'll be sure to name them Atom. That's what cool moms name their kids right? Cool moms name their kids Atom? D-does that make me a bad parent for not naming my son Atom? Oh gosh I knew naming my son Stephen was an uncool move of mine!"

Tenma blinked in confusion.

She blinked right back.

He cleared his throat. "Well I'm sorry for the inconvenience ma'am. I'll just be on my way."

"Um sure, you're welcome anytime…"

Stephen facepalmed.

"My boyfriend is gonna pay for this." he muttered.

Tenma walked back to his car awkwardly.

Stephen's mom closed the door.

"So hows about you explain this Atom mess, hmm?" she began.

Atom walked into the park, it was less crowded than usual.

"Hmmm, it's really ah-" he was cut off by his own sneeze. ((Guys, guys, guys….. I have a theory that Atom sneezes a lot, you're welcome. ~Emily))

He started laughing.

"Oh god…. t-that one was so unexpected!" Atom started laughing even more.

He yawned and stretched his arms.

"Hey you gotta stay awake now if you're gonna start pulling all-nighters! No sleepen on de job!"

"Oh, I should tell Stephen I made it downtown, don't want him freaking out…." Atom walked over to a park bench and sat down.

After a back and forth text message went on, Atom got up and continued walking the park.

"Oh! Where'd you go? Didn't see you for a while?" Astro asked.

"Nowhere." Tenma walked past Astro.

"Oh, now you're savage too? I swear we're all just savage assholes….."

"No Astro, it's just you."

"No no, it's you too trust me, I made a whole video about it on Monday, i'd know…."

Tenma had already left the room by the time Astro finished his sentence.

"Geez, now everyone is just leaving, I should go reply to TubeYou comments to pass the time…" Astro got up and walked to his room.

It had been a few days since the day after Atom left, things seemed to be OK with Atom, while everyone at Tenma's was trying to cope with the fact that Atom was gone and now, because of Astro, probably wouldn't return.

But it wasn't until late at night when Tenma and Astro decided to get some pizza downtown….

"I'm here for work!" Atom greeted.

"Hahaha, you were about to be late."

"Pfft, please, me _late_? Doesn't take me that long to get here." Atom laughed as he made his way to the clerk to let him get behind the cashier area.

"So we getting cheese again this time?" Astro asked.

"Yes." Tenma responded, walking up to the doors of the pizza place.

"Mmmm yummy cheese!" Astro chuckled.

"Oh uh, take over the register, I have to go use the bathroom."

"Sure, shouldn't be hard right?" Atom asked.

"No no, pretty simple…"

"Haha, alright." Atom crouched down to grab something as Tenma and Astro made it to the register.

Atom stood up again.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in shock.

"Woah. Atom?" Astro tilted his head.

"Ummmmmm, I-I can explain!" Atom stuttered.

Tenma just stared at him with a silent anger and shock.

"Ummm well… Welcome to 'The Pizza Place' can I uh, ask what you want?" Atom said awkwardly.

There was a long awkward silence before Astro cleared his throat.

"Um. Large cheese pizza."

"Uh huh, large cheese pizza… do you uh, want breadsticks or ummmm, soda?" Atom asked.

"Breadsticks." Tenma said, almost inaudibly.

"Alright, breadsticks, no soda….. that's umm, $15.24." ((lol I did mah research using Pizza Hut as my ref and google did the math lol ~Emily))

Tenma took out his wallet and handed Atom his debit card.

Atom swiped it and handed it back to Tenma.

"So you can just wait and it'll be um, out soon…" Atom looked at the two of them and forced a smile.

"Haha, alright." Astro laughed and left Tenma to go find a table.

Atom looked a tad embarrassed as he mouthed "sorry." to Tenma

After a few more seconds, Tenma nodded then followed Astro.

The other worker came back.

"Oh! Not bad, maybe I should start leaving you in charge for a while…" They joked.

Atom chuckled. "Actually I think I'm gonna go use it myself too, don't wanna wait till the last minute."

"Yeah yeah sure, take your time…."

Atom chuckled again and walked away, going over to sit by Tenma and Astro.

Atom looked at them as if he was waiting a response.

He stood up for a moment to pull down his shirt, then sat back down again.

Tenma wanted to say something, but for some reason just couldn't.

"Well? I'm on my bathroom break, I have to go back to work soon…."

"Hi." Astro said.

Atom sighed and stood up, walking away. "What a waste of time." he muttered in sudden anger.

"Well, you had you're chance, and what did ya do? Nothing! Hahahaha." Astro said to Tenma.

Tenma sighed and rested his head in his hands, covering his eyes with his fingers.

"Haha, same. Wish I could have that be my default emotion all the time…"

"Just shut up, Astro."

Astro took the slice Atom had secretly gave them and stuffed it in his mouth.

"There, ya happy? Got pizza in mah mouth." He tried saying.

Tenma sighed again.

After some time had passed (roughly an hour or so), Atom was heading out the door.

"Oh, and don't forget we're closing early tomorrow so your shift is earlier!"

"Yeah, I heard, bye!" Atom waved goodbye.

"Bye!"

He walked out the door.

Astro had fallen asleep on the table with the remainder of cheese left on his cheek since his face mostly touched the table and squished the side of his half-eaten pizza.

Tenma looked at him as he slowly ate his slice.

Astro snored.

"Oh! I forgot my bag, haha, guess who's the stupid one today!" Atom joked as he walked back inside.

Tenma heard footsteps behind him and turned his head to see Atom walking by.

"Atom."

"Hmmm?" Atom turned around to see who was speaking to him.

His eyes met with Tenma's.

"Uh…" Atom shook nervously.

"How are you doing?"

"Oh…. uhh, I'm doing great, got this really neat job here and I'm about to go a few places to keep me busy the whole night, and you?"

"I'm doing well."

"Haha, well that's nice… always nice to be doing well…"

Tenma nodded.

Atom chuckled.

"Hey. Remember that if you ever need help, you can just call me, ok?"

"Mmmhmm." Atom nodded.

Tenma stood up and gave Atom a hug.

Atom smiled and gladly gave Tenma a hug back.

They broke up the hug. Tenma smiled at Atom and nodded. Atom nodded back and went backtracked to getting his bag, then walked out the door.

Astro soon woke up.

"Yo man what shit did I miss?" He asked.

"Nothing." Tenma sat back down.

"Haha, wait, did Atom leave already? I can't hear his pipsqueak voice anymore?"

"He left a few minutes ago."

"Haha, you lost your chance, ugh, so tired…." Astro stretched his arms.

"Let's head back home, then."

"Haha sure."

Two days later, the sky was grey as grey could possibly be, Atom was finishing up his shift at the Pizza Place and thought of taking a walk deep into the downtown area.

He took a break and sat down on the sidewalk, he suddenly got a shock of weakness as his body started to shake a bit more than usual.

His stomach didn't feel so well, Atom looked over at his arm that had been bruised up for a while from the time he slipped and hit himself accidentally against different things while strolling around and not being careful.

Atom felt terrible.

For a moment, his vision blurred and he really just wanted to curl up into a ball and await death because there was nothing he could do to make his life any better. He thought leaving and "starting over" was the only way to solve his problems, when really it only created more problems for him.

Atom cringed at the pain.

Eventually the clouds got heavy enough to let out a huge downpour, with thunder and lighting not too far away.

A storm had begun, both in nature, and inside Atom.

The agony, the outrage, the perplexity and bitterness all suppressed in him came straight up his throat as he threw up in the grass, the shaking wasn't as bad as before, however tears gushed down his face as he couldn't take it any longer.

He had to go back home.

Atom, weakly, tried running through the rain, but gave up and just walked back to Tenma's.

An hour had passed when Atom had made it close to Tenma's, the storm wasn't showing signs of improvement with another boisterous strike of thunder and lighting along with the downpour thrashing down on him.

Before long, the crying Atom thumped on the entryway, hoping Tenma would reply, the pain kept on surging through him as the shaking got worse. As he sat tight for the door to open, Atom continued gazing at the wounds and bruises on his body left from his immaculate heedlessness.

Tenma answered the door. "Atom?"

Atom looked at him with a sad expression, quivering lips and watery eyes.

"Come in, it's pouring out there."

Atom nodded and walked inside.

Tenma led him over to the couch.

"I'll be right back." He quickly walked into the other room.

Soon Tenma came back with a towel and placed it over Atom's shoulders.

Atom sighed, tears gushed down his face again as he sniffled and shook.

Tenma patted Atom on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Atom looked over at him, sniffling again.

"Everything will be alright." Tenma tried to smile.

Atom nodded.

"Brah, can ya keep it down, my girlfriend is throwing a hissy fit cuz ya two dumbos so loud, YOU HAPPY NOW BRIANNA?!" Astro yelled as he walked into the living room.

Tenma sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

"Huh? What's that, you want- you want me to put you on speaker- what? No no no, ugh- Brianna I ain't got time for your shit right now OK, you either shut up or hang up the phon- fine, you want to be on speakerphone?" Astro sighed and switched a few things on his phone.

" _Ok Ok, am I on speaker?"_

"Yes, you're on speaker."

" _Ok good, yeah, you guys are really loud and interrupting my reading, this bitch gotta get shit done too, but I like to work in quiet and not in such noisy places, alright? We cool? You're gonna keep it down and let me do what I gotta do while talkin' ta this sonofabitch?"_

"Astro. Please go back to your room….."

"Wish I could but this bitch won't let me until you 'keep quiet' I guess…."

" _Well it's rude to be loud when someone's trying to read a fricking book, my mom may had been an asshole, but she never skipped the life lesson on manners!"_

"She makes a good point." Astro shrugged.

" _Exactly. So ya'll gonna shut ya pieholes, I'm gonna keep reading this book, and we'll all pretend this never happened and we're only doing this out of respect and not just this blonde bitch just told ya too? Right? We chill? Alright, ROLL OUT POOKIE FACE!"_

Astro sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"See ya." He walked away back to his room.

Tenma sat down and sighed again, massaging his temples with his hands.

" _You think they bought it?"_

"Hopefully, haha."

" _Pfft, needed an excuse to rant today, haha."_

Atom sighed back a few moments later, he started shaking again.

"I'm sorry." Tenma let out in a sigh after a few more moments of silence.

"It-It's OK…." Atom replied before suddenly coughing.

Tenma looked over at Atom and saw there were bruises on the arm he lifted up to shield his cough.

He sat up and leaned towards Atom.

"What happened?"

"Hmmm?" Atom looked at him.

"Your arm…."

"Oh, just a consequence for being reckless."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I kept smashing into things and tripping, think I had too much starbuck…."

Tenma leaned back in his seat.

"I'm a terrible father..." He whispered to himself.

Atom coughed again and cleared his throat.

Tenma looked back over at Atom before standing up.

"I'll get you something to drink."

He walked into the kitchen.

Atom took off his towel to get a better look at his arms. "Is it really that bad?" He said to himself in low volumed voice.

Tenma soon came back with the drink in his hand.

Atom was sitting on the floor with his knees brought up to his chest as he continued to shake like he did before.

Tenma kneeled down and handed Atom the drink.

Atom took it from him and the cup shook in his hand as he tried taking a sip from it before coughing.

Cindy came into the room.

"Who's coughing so mu-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Atom.

Atom looked behind him to see who it was, but was obviously being covered by the couch.

Tenma looked at her as she walked over next to him.

Atom looked at the both of them with a "Ok well this is kinda awkward" kind of facial expression.

Seeing how pale his face was, Cindy almost instinctively pressed her hand to his forehead.

"He's burning up."

Atom took a sip of his drink, put the cup down, then looked back at Tenma and Cindy.

He sighed.

"He needs bed rest." Cindy whispered to Tenma.

He nodded and stood up, holding his hand out to Atom.

"Can you get up?"

Atom nodded and slowly got up, trying to balance himself for a short moment, with no success he almost fell forward but Tenma luckily stopped him.

"Do you need me to carry you?"

He nodded.

Tenma lifted Atom up and walked over to the basement door, followed by Cindy, who opened it for him.

They walked down the stairs together and through another door.

Tenma set Atom down on a bed in the small room.

Atom soon coughed again, shaking a little more.

Cindy pulled Tenma over to the other side of the room.

"You go get Atom something warm to drink. I'll stay here and get him into some dry clothes."

Tenma nodded and left the room.

Atom stared at the ceiling in silence, everything just seemed so rushed and zoomed past his cluttered head.

Cindy walked back over to Atom.

"Are you feeling alright?" She brushed some damp hair from his face with a nurturing smile.

Atom shrugged insecurely.

She walked over to a dresser across the room and pulled one of the drawers open.

"What were you doing while you were away?" She asked as she pulled out some folded clothes.

"I uh, just, roamed the streets, got a job to keep me busy, and Starbuck, haha, lots of Starbuck, pulling all nighters is much easier said than done."

"Doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun." Cindy closed the drawer and walked back over to Atom.

"Eh, it wasn't _too_ bad…"

"So what brought you back?"

"I dunno." Atom shrugged again, this time a bit carelessly.

"Hmmm." She thought as she looked down at the clothes in her arm.

"You can change into these if you'd like." She gently placed them on the bed next to Atom.

Atom nodded.

"I'll give you some privacy then." She smiled again and left the room.

Atom sighed and tried not to cry again, he slowly got up and pressed his hands into his bed for a moment before finally deciding to change into more dryer clothes.

Cindy walked up the stairs and into the kitchen.

Tenma looked over when he heard the door open and gave her a faint smile.

She smiled back and made her way next to him, putting her arms around his torso.

He rested his arm around her as they looked at the teapot on the stove in front of them.

After a few seconds, Tenma leaned his head down and kissed Cindy on the top of the head.

Atom had rested his head on his bed and somehow managed to fall asleep, but he got really uncomfortable fast.

 _No, I said I was sorry!_

"N-no." Atom turned to his side.

 _ **No, of course you're not, you let your own twin push you out of the house, it's all your fault!**_

"W-well….I'M SORRY!"

 _It's not my fault OK, I've come back for a reason, because I care-_

 _ **Too much?**_

 _Quite a lot actually._

 _ **Mmmmhmm, and you let them down, didn't you?**_

"No."

 _ **Well if I were them, I would have kicked you to the curb, they don't deserve you, you're a burden! Just another problem in the way. Gotta hand it to ya for thinking they actually cared, haha, they only feel sorry for you…..**_

Atom curled up into a ball and sniffled.

 _ **Before you know it, they're just gonna leave you behind, you'll be a thing in the past for them, long forgotten, oh, you better go now, your stomach's gonna act up, we wouldn't want another incident, now would we?**_

"N-no…. no…. NOOO!" Atom's voice got louder as he clinged onto the sheets, shaking badly and grossly sobbing.

Hearing commotion from somewhere else in the house, Cindy walked away from Tenma and into the living room.

"Hmm. It's not Millie making all the fuss…."

"NOOOOOO!" She heard Atom's voice crack from downstairs.

Quickly she opened the basement door and rushed down the stairs.

"Atom!" She found him thrashing about in his bed, sobbing and yelling out.

"No… No." This time Atom's voice wasn't as loud.

Cindy walked over to the side of his bed,

"Atom." She shook his shoulders to try and wake him up.

"I can fix this…. I promise." He said.

"Atom." She repeated

"Hmmmm?" Atom slowly opened his eyes.

"Is everything ok? You were shouting 'No'."

"I d-dunno." He shrugged.

She sighed and handed him a tissue.

Atom took the tissue and wiped away a few tears off his face.

"I'm sorry." He said, ashamed.

"You don't need to be sorry."

Atom sighed and sniffled, a few more tears streamed down his cheeks.

He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his lap.

Tenma walked into the room with a tray in his hands.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, confused.

"I think he had a bad dream."

Atom slowly lifted up his head only to put it back down and sniffle.

Tenma sighed, he motioned to Cindy and the two of them walked out and left.

Atom lifted his head up again and wiped the tears from his face with his arm, sniffling for one last time before looking over at the tray of food.

He gave up on trying to get himself to function, Atom just crawled into bed and went to sleep.

"I DID IT!" Astro yelled, running out of his room with joy.

It was the next day.

"Why are you screaming, calm yourself." Tenma opened his bedroom door and rubbed his eyes, half asleep.

"NO THIS IS WHAT I DO WHEN IM HAPPY OK?! I SCREAM!" Astro yelled back again.

"Well you're going to wake up the baby, so find some other way to be happy." Tenma replied.

Astro cleared his throat.

"I finished my thumbnail. For TubeYou. Uh huh, that makes me happy, you wanna know why? Because I draw them myself OK, so I have thus unlocked an achievement, and thus deserve to celebrate. OK? OK." Astro whispered to him.

"Yes. But can you celebrate quietly?"

"No Citizen, no." Astro slowly shook his head, whispering again.

Tenma sighed.

Astro smiled and finger guned at Tenma before walking away to the kitchen.

He rolled his eyes and closed the bedroom door.

A few hours later, Astro walked back out from his room.

"WOOOOO I FINISHED MY THUMBNAIL! YAY!" he yelled once more.

"Hey, have you seen the little pipsqueak? I'm sure he'd still congratulate me even though i'm a savage asshole." He asked.

"He's still downstairs, but we're trying to give him a little alone time." Cindy replied.

"Haha, good luck with that, you know he's just gonna shut you out right? One day you give him space and you won't see him till he's 80, or maybe not, maybe you'll be deadidunno, the point is, Bar- Mah! If you 'give him space' he's gonna _go to space_ and not return."

"Well unlike _some people,_ your father and I are looking for ways to help Atom."

"Yeah yeah sure, and when he stops responding, call me, for realz I need a break from answering questions, I need better content for my channel yo."

"You shouldn't post something like that on the internet."

"Pffft yeah sure sure, freedom of press yowzers, wait, what the fuck?"

Cindy rolled her eyes.

Later on in the day, just before dinner, Atom crawled out of bed, feeling really icky with a stomach that wasn't doing well.

Atom knew he had to throw up to end the pain, but he didn't wanna risk being caught, he wanted to be alone by himself since he figured no one really cared, they only felt sorry for him.

He soon just threw up in a corner and went back to sleep, feeling slightly better having gotten rid of anything that was bothering his stomach.

"Ew, do you guys smell that shit, shit smells, haha, said shit in the same sentence, how savage of me? HMMMM?" Astro asked at the dinner table.

"What did I tell you about cursing, Astro?" Cindy looked up at him.

"Nothing, hahahaha."

"He is right… It does smell putrid." Tenma added.

"See? Citizen understands me, he knows I curse, he choses to ignore it, and move onto the real problem, why it smells so fucking bad in this damn house…"

"Go find the source of it then if it's bothering you so much."

"Are you saying you enjoy living in such stench? HOLY CRAPPPPPPPPPPPP. Citizen, Citizen, the neat freak has broken her neat freakiness!"

"No. But if you're going to complain about it, then do something about it instead. I'm not your maid."

"And neither am I, gosh darnit now would have been a great time to put on the meme sunglasses, dang it."

"Oh well, let's pretend I slid them on and casually said 'savage' because why not?"

"Aren't you supposed to say 'Deal with it?'." Tenma looked confused.

"No, that's not savage enough."

"But that's the meme those glasses come from. You can't just change memes like that."

"Deal with it." Astro turned to Tenma and said to him.

Tenma gasped sarcastically.

Astro stood up.

"Alright pussyyyyyy-I mean ladies and gentle fuckman, we shall look for the smell!"Astro pointed to the sky with a finger as he tried speaking courageously.

Tenma and Cindy got up and followed Astro out of the room.

"Alright, this here ol' tubby room smells decent, whaddya think gentle fuck citizen man?"

"It looks clean."

"Then we rollin out bitches!"

"I bet it's your disgusting messy room. It never gets clean." Cindy mumbled under her breath.

"Oh really?" Astro opened the door to his surprisingly clean room.

"Needed a clean room for TubeYou, so yeah, there ya go! WE ROLLING OUT AGAIN BIATCHES!"

"At least you have some reason to clean it."

"So now if you look to your left, you will see the shitty kitchen filled with food and shit, yeah, no flash photography though, it scares the veggies."

Tenma looked over at the basement door and slowly walked away from the other two and towards it, sniffing.

"Geez, now _that's_ pure savage."

"Come here." He motioned to Cindy and Astro after opening the basement door a tad.

"Mmmmm alright then. WE FOLLOWING THE CITIZEN FUCKBOY MAN COME ALONG! CHOO CHOO!"

Once the two of them made it to the door and stood next to Tenma, he opened the door all the way and the stink hit them like a cloud of smoke.

"Oh god." Cindy held her nose.

"Fucking shit yo, this is terrible, what the fuck happened, did the veggies hate the flash _that_ much they came down here and rotted?!"

"What in the world died down here?" Tenma began to walk down the stairs.

"I dunno, maybe that's what you get for 'giving Atom space'"

"I don't see how that relates at all to this…."

"Sssh ssshh, it stinks, let's stick with the programming shall we, the readers are gonna get bored of our shenanigans….."

"Sometimes I really question your sanity."

"Stick with the programming…"

Tenma sighed and turned on the light when he reached the end of the stairs.

Everything was as clean as it was when he left it the night before.

He glanced back at Astro and Cindy for a moment before slowly walking over to Atom's door.

"Ooooo, I hope he knocks." Astro whispered to Cindy.

"Atom?" Tenma called from outside the door.

Atom was sleeping in bed the whole time, letting out a giggle and then turned to his side again.

He knocked.

"Atom?" He repeated.

Atom slowly opened his eyes after hearing someone call his name, he quickly shut them again and forced himself to go back to sleep in an attempt to shut them out.

Tenma slowly opened the door, but quickly turned his head away and tried not to gag.

He covered his mouth and nose then opened the door the rest of the way.

After turning on the light, he looked around to see a pile of puke in the corner of the room and a few blankets thrown about on the floor.

Cindy came in not long after.

"Geez, _someone_ had a temper tantrum….." Astro said from behind Cindy.

Tenma walked over to Atom and shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up.

Atom forced himself to sleep and ignore Tenma's motions.

"Atom. Wake up."

Atom refused then let out a fake snore to try and trick the others into thinking he was sleeping.

"Atom. Come on. It's time to get up."

Atom mumbled something and then giggled, forcing another fake snore and changing his sleeping position.

Tenma sighed then looked over at Cindy.

"Can you keep trying to wake him up while I clean this up?"

She nodded then walked over to Atom.

Atom grabbed his pillow and clinged onto it, snoring again.

"Nah nah, I got this." Astro walked up to Atom, cracking his fingers.

"ATOM YOU SHIT ASS PIPSQUEAK GET YOUR FUCKING ASS UP BECAUSE IT FUCKING STINKS IN HERE ALRIGHT?!" He yelled into Atom's ear.

Atom only snored in response.

"Man, I think he turned his hearing off, 'cause man, how else can you wake a robot up?"

Cindy pushed Astro to the side.

"Atom, sweetie. I know you're awake. It's not time to play games." She said sweetly.

"No no, I don't think he can hear you, he must have turned his hearing off when he heard us coming down…." ((Because robots can actually tune people out, boy do I need that option all the time.~Emily))

"Well, step aside step momma, Imma have to push the sucker off the damn bed." Astro said, getting into position to push Atom off his bed.

"You can't just-!" Cindy tried holding Astro back, but he shoved Atom off his bed before she could do anything.

Atom desperately tried not to open his eyes, squeezing his eyes to ensure they'd stay closed.

"Astro!" Cindy gave him a slap on the arm.

"Well guess who's savage now, haha, SUCK IT TENMA!"

"Good for you." Tenma said from the corner of the room.

"Pfft, when your family members are too innocent for your perverted mind….. tsk tsk… shame…." Astro said, shaking a finger.

There was a sudden sound of an alarm going off from a phone.

"Wo-ha-oh, da fuck is that shit?" Astro asked.

Cindy walked over to the other side of the bed and over Atom, who she saw was still asleep.

She picked up Atom's phone on the nightstand and turned off the alarm.

"Da fuck was that anyway?" Astro asked yet for another time.

"It said 'Atom, go to work' on the alarm."

"Oh, then he better get up or he's gonna miss wor- wait, when did Atom get a job?!"

"He was working at the pizza place, you ditz." Tenma stood up.

"Oh wait he was _working_ there? I thought we just like- ran into him or something, wow…."

"Why else would he be behind the counter….?"

"Oh, wow I'm stupid, well someone better get his ass up, don't wanna be late for work."

A sound of another alarm went off.

"I got it this time biatches!" Astro took the phone from Cindy.

 _Atom, go to work, please and thank you._

"Alright then." Astro casually dropped the phone and sat on Atom's bed with a blank expression.

Atom slowly got up from the floor, grabbed his phone, and left for work.

Tenma, Cindy, and Astro watched him leave in silence then looked at each other for a moment.

"What the fuck?" Astro began.

"Bill, will you come talk with me in the other room?" Cindy looked at Tenma.

"Sure, dear." They walked into the other room.

After a long walk downtown, Atom finally walked into the Pizza Place to begin his shift.

"I need a bathroom right now." He said before laughing.

"Geez, what a great start to the night, Atom."

Atom laughed again.

"No seriously, I'm terrible, I need a bathroom, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Finally after a long shift, Atom walked inside the house, he saw Astro, Tenma and Cindy sitting at the table, Atom passed them and went back to his room.

Late at night, Atom was in the living room watching TV after having another anxiety attack and feeling embarrassed by it completely.

He sighed and looked around the living room.

Hearing the noise of someone walking to the kitchen, Atom got down from the couch and looked for the remote to turn off the TV.

"Hmm?"

"Crap." Atom muttered, still looking for the remote.

"Atom?" C

Atom sighed and gave up trying to look for the remote, he crawled back to the couch and lied down on his side.

They walked out of the kitchen and to the living room to where the TV was on and saw Atom lying down.

Atom looked over at them with a look of surprise.

He wanted to get up and shroud the expression all over, yet amidst scrambling his thoughts and lastly settling on leaving, he tumbled off the couch and crashed right onto the floor.

"You OK?" Cindy asked, looking over the couch at Atom.

Atom took a moment to think before his cheeks turned pink.

"Is that a 'no'?"

Atom shook his head, he slowly got up and awkwardly sat back down on the couch.

He didn't know what to say, he hoped his expressions could do the talking and say the words Atom just couldn't roll off the tongue.

Atom took a gander at Cindy, hoping she'd get the memo he was feeling a blend of disgrace bound with the immaculate humiliation, the feeling of being an outcast or as though the occasions that transpire, transpire solely and deemed "not normal".

She casually sat next to him.

Atom forced a chuckle to break the silence.

Cindy looked over at him with a smile.

"How are you doing?" She asked him.

Atom didn't speak but shuffled his feet around, playing with his fingers and his head looking down, trying to convey his feeling of shame. ((Took me a sec to figure out how to convey "He feels like he did something wrong" into words, so I had to look it up xDDDD ~Emily))

"I guess you're not doing too well."

Atom sighed and slowly nodded.

"You want to talk about it?"

Atom shrugged his shoulders.

"Well I'm not going to make you talk, but if you want to, I'm right here."

Atom sighed.

"I uh…." Tears slowly formed in his eyes.

Cindy looked over at him.

Atom brought his knees up to his chest, looking right at the TV, trying to muster up courage to speak again.

"I uh… had a thing…."

"A 'thing'?"

Atom nodded, looking around the room like a little kid looking around _their_ room for monsters.

Cindy still seemed confused, not really sure what a "thing" was, and Atom picked up on it.

He sighed, filling up with frustration that his tactics aren't conveying to her what's happened and how he feels about it.

A tear slipped down his cheek and he sniffled.

Atom realized if he wanted Cindy to get the idea, he'd have to just flat out tell her.

"I had an anxiiiitehuh-taccky." The words couldn't even make sense in his head.

Finally after a short mental war with himself, he came out and whispered "I had a uhhhh, anxiety attack.". ((TRUST ME READERS THIS IS JUST AS AWKWARD FOR ME TO WRITE AS MUCH AS ATOM FEELS THE AWKWARD, JUST TRUST ME ON THIS ONE GUYS! ~Emily)) ((Yup. ~Kait)) ((And this music by The Fratellis isn't doing much justice…. ~Emily)) ((Rocking out to Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats isn't helping me out much either ~Kait))

"Oh. OH! My goodness, I'm so sorry I didn't understand." Cindy moved closer to Atom and put her arms around him in a hug.

"It's… fine." The feeling of shame came right back up again. ((Atom feels ashamed cuz he had the attack btw, for those who haven't caught on… kinda like it's something that's not supposed to happen or like, I dunno, like when you uh, do something that everyone kinda frowns upon so you feel bad because you did the thing everyone frowns on, yeah, that lol. ~Emily)) ((As someone who actually had a panic attack in public, I can say that's it's pretty embarrassing. Mostly because it's embarrassing to ever cry in public and you just don't want anyone to talk about it while at the same time you want someone to help you. ~Kait))

Atom sniffled again, wiping a few tears from his face.

Soon after a short conversation, Atom closed his eyes and fell asleep for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Atom was in his bedroom hidden under the covers when he heard a knock at the door.

"Atom?"

Atom sighed, snatching more sheets and engulfing himself in them.

"Atom, you in there?"

Atom sighed again and tried grabbing more sheets but rolled off the bed, and you guessed it, hit the floor.

"Hehe, that hurt." He chuckled, speaking in his childish voice.

He crawled over to the door and opened it.

"Hello!" He greeted, still in his high-pitched childish voice.

Tenma looked surprised when Atom answered the door.

Atom waved at him ecstatically.

After a moment of shock, Tenma opened his mouth to speak.

"Cindy and I are going shopping and are wondering if you'd like to come along."

"Haha, I dunno." Atom giggled, falling backwards.

"I'm just in such a great mood today!" He rolled around on the floor, laughing.

Atom slowly sat up and looked at Tenma with a giant goofy smile.

Tenma smiled back.

"If you're coming, be ready by 9."

"Haha, alright!"

"Geez is Atom high?" Astro asked Tenma when he walked back up from the basement.

"I doubt it."

"Well he seemed to be quite happy, not sure what you define as "high" but that sounds like "high" to me…"

"Oh, I should get the mail, why do I keep forgetting this kinda shit…."

After getting the mail, Astro walked back inside the house and threw the mail across the table.

"Seems you got a lot of bills my friend…. what a shame….."

"Oooo look at this one, it's Atom's hospital bill!"

"What?" Tenma looked over at the envelope Astro was holding.

"Wait, this isn't our address? Looks like… looks like Elefuckerette's address, wow that's a mouthful." ((This HAS to be like the 4th or 5th time Astro's given Elefun a new nickname….~Emily))

"Looks like he must have forwarded it here…."

"That bastard." Tenma grimaced at the envelope as he took it from Astro's hands.

He quickly but gently tore the top and pulled out the folded papers inside.

"I bet you it's like some huge ridiculous number otherwise Elefuckerette wouldn't have sent it to us….."

Tenma's expression slowly turned to a bewildered look as he examined the list of numbers.

"Is it bad? Are you gonna be in debt? Holy shit!"

"Hopefully not..."

Atom walked up the stairs and saw Astro and Tenma looking down at a piece of paper.

"Whatcha' looking at?" He asked them.

"Oh. Nothing. Just the mail." Tenma shoved the letter back into the envelope in a panic.

"Hahaha, who has mail anymore? I thought by now we'd all be switched to paperless, but I guess not….I thought elefun was the only person who got paper anymore. he refused to get emails." Atom shrugged.

"Don't get suspicious. Don't get suspicious." Tenma thought.

Atom opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, taking a sip after closing the door.

"You know what….. I just remembered I have work today…." he said.

Atom walked over to Tenma.

"Gosh, I'd hate to be an adult, these are a crap ton of bills, wow…"

"Oooo what's that one? Looks like it's from the hospital?"

Tenma started sweating bullets.

"Uhhhh, D-did I say something wro-"

"It was Elefuckerette's fault." Astro cut Atom off.

"Ele who?"

"Elefun you idiot!"

"Ooooh, what about him?"

Astro facepalmed.

"SOMEONE PLEASE BLESS THIS DUMBASSE'S SOUL 'CAUSE HOLY SHIT!"

"He forwarded the hospital bills to us." Tenma glanced down at the letters sprung out about the table

"So…. what does that mean, he wants _you_ to pay it?"

"Pretty much."

"Well it can't be _that_ bad, the Ministry is much worse, I tell ya."

"Ah. Yeah. Don't… don't worry about it." Tenma tried to shrug off the subject.

"Well gosh if Elefun isn't paying for all of this, how am I gonna get my exams, and upgrades and uhhhhhh, too much for my brain to process, _literally_."

"I'll handle all of that."

"You sure, I mean, I don't- wanna bombard you with a million thing-"

"It's no problem. Really."

Atom sighed and nodded his head.

(END OF CHAPTER 12 WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)


	13. Bright Whites

" _You and me at the edge of the world with a pretty little smile for me to see, for me to see. New bright whites and a cage full of ice and a naked little canopy to feed my disease"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Thirteen: Bright Whites

"Yeah I'm going to the store, at least I think so…."

"Wait? You're going to the store too? Ooo which one? Yo- you don't know? Oh well, maybe i'll see you there, who knows!"

Atom was in the backseat while Tenma was taking the wheel and pulling out of the driveway, he was talking to Stephen on the phone about him leaving.

"No Astro's not coming, Tenma said he declined, so he's staying home with the baby, haha, he needs all the good luck he can get 'cause, whooo, yikes!" ((Of course Tenma told him Astro declined *wink* *wink* ~Emily))

He heard someone chuckle from the front seat.

"Oh, what am I wearing, ah… nothing fancy, I would have worn sweatpants but all my stuff is still at Elefun's, which reminds me…. I should really go and ask for my stuff back, like my camera, my laptop, phone charger, my bag…. ah the good ol' days of photography, hope my skills haven't rusted, oh gosh Stephen what if I forget how to auto focus?!"

"Or- or I forget how to, I dunno- add text in Photo's Shop?!"

Atom paused for a moment.

"Or worse…"

"I forget where the power button is?!"

"OK OK, I'll just go see him after work, yeah… nothing wrong with…. uh- that."

"Hmmm, what was that?"

"Ohhhhh, you wanted to say h- no, you don't- what? S-stephen speak English please….."

"Oh you mean like where am I sitting? Oh! I'm sitting in the back, much safer, and obviously the driver and passenger seats are taken….."

"Well I mean I _guess_ , sorta, I assume, I mean I'm not human so technically speaking I'm not 'related' to anyone, but I guess I could consider them my parents if I wanted to?"

"Well you're an only child OK? You don't have to deal with any of the BS I gotta deal with, it's just you and your mom."

"I'm sure she's not crazy, being a parent is no walk in park."

"Well I mean if you're gonna put it that way, of course she'd seem crazy!"

They talked a bit for the rest of the car ride.

Soon, Atom hung up the phone.

"Hmm, are you sure we're not lost because this doesn't look like a store to me?"

"No. We aren't lost." Tenma responded.

"Well it looks really cool, I happen to really like being outdoors and looking at the scenery, so I guess this makes up for it."

"This looks like a good place to park." Cindy pointed to a small clearing not too far off the road.

Tenma nodded and pulled in, then turned off the car.

Atom yawned and stretched his arms, finally smiling after the good yawn.

Tenma stepped out of the car and took in a deep breath.

Atom clicked his seatbelt off and opened the door, then he too stepped out of the car and stood next to Tenma.

"The weather today looks really nice, could've been perfect if we were gonna go walking or hiking."

"We are, actually." Cindy said from the other side of the car.

"Really? No, stop it. You're joking!"

She shook her head with a smile.

"Well geez I'm sure not dressed right, good thing I didn't wear sweatpants…"

"You'll be fine." Tenma walked past Atom and towards the trunk of the car.

Atom chuckled.

Tenma motioned to Atom to step over next to him.

Atom walked over to Tenma.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I have something for you." Tenma smiled and opened up the trunk.

Inside sat some tote bags, a neatly folded blanket, a flashlight, and a worn looking nylon case of some sort.

"Woah that's a lot of stuff!" Atom looked in amazement.

Tenma picked up the case and dusted a little dirt off of it with his hand.

"Ooooo, what's that?" Atom asked.

"It's a little something my father gave to me on my 18th birthday."

"Woah, you've had it all this time?"

"Mmmhmm. When he gave it to me he said, 'You're going to see a lot with your life. If it isn't worth a thousand words, then it isn't worth anything at all. Don't waste your life away, son. Do something great. Go places. Don't let anything hold you back'... I took his advice for granted. There are so many places and sites I wish I could have seen when I was still young. Don't make the same mistake I did." He handed the case to Atom.

Atom slowly grabbed the case, not wanting to ruin whatever could have been inside.

"So…. what's in it?" He asked.

"Open it up and see for yourself."

"Oh!" Atom carefully opened the case.

He gasped.

"Woah! This is one of those old cameras from back in the day, wow, geez has time flown!"

"You should see the cameras from the early 1900's. This one is only from 2018."

"Ah, I think I should just put it back, it's really vintage, not worth damaging…."

"No. No. Use it. I know you don't have your camera with you so I thought you could use mine. It still works fine, trust me, I tested it out earlier."

"R-really? Ummm, OK then… if you say so!" He gently put the camera's strap around the back his neck, being careful as not to break it with it's antique intriquicity.

"Well… Don't stand around and waste your time." Cindy said as she began to walk towards a large trail in front of them.

"Oh hey! Wait up!" Atom held the camera tightly in his hands as he walked quickly over to Cindy with Tenma close behind him.

Atom tried vigorously to quicken his pace and walk in front of Tenma and Cindy, who were a good deal taller than Atom, their long legs making wider strides down the path. But he happily kept up his momentum and held the camera's viewfinder to his eye.

His cheeks turned pink for a moment as he thought of something, the cool wind was picking up, making it a tad less hotter and the sun much more bearable.

He snapped a picture of the sun shining gracefully through the leaves of the oak trees surrounding him.

Cindy took Tenma's hand and casually swung their arms almost like a swing in the wind.

"Remember when we came here?" She asked him.

"Like it was yesterday." He looked down at her and smiled.

Atom stopped for a moment to hear them talk but realizing they were drawing nearer to him, he started up his walk again and tried to make up the distance he lost.

"You never told me why you brought me here." Cindy looked up at her husband with a cocky smile.

"The city gets to me sometimes. Makes it hard to think. I used to come up here to escape all the noise and bustle, let my mind have a break."

"It's certainly the most peaceful place I've ever seen."

"It was something I never showed anyone else. Not a living soul I knew."

The group walked in silence for a few moments.

"Once I took you here, I was finally 100% sure I wanted to marry you."

She was thrown back for a second before returning to her grin.

"How did it go, when you brought me up here two years ago? I recall us talking about cleaning up that house and insisting we go back and finish the job."

"Then I said you were being ridiculous and that we needed a break."

"Then I told you that _you_ were being ridiculous and I couldn't stand thinking about the mess for one more second."

"Then I told you that I love it when you obsess over working."

"Then I told you to shut up."

"But then I shut _you_ up like so."

Tenma nearly swept Cindy off her feet with a romantic kiss. She giggled and pushed him away.

"Then I..."

He lifted her up into his arms and spun around. Cindy couldn't hold in her laughter.

Atom was turning around to take a picture when he saw the two of them through his camera. He slowly brought it down below his nose as his cheeks flushed red. The breeze seemed to only make his face feel hotter. He turned away with a dorky smile plastered on his face as Tenma placed Cindy back down on the ground, both of them laughing.

After some hours of walking and hiking around more, Atom stopped for a moment when he felt his shoulder get a bit tense. ((I know he's a robot and all but I kinda wanna put my research into practice so…. ~Emily))

You could see for a moment a look of slight pain as if the tenseness was a huge discomfort for him.

Atom brought his hand over to his shoulder and tried to keep walking but the pain didn't get any better.

He soon just stopped again and didn't move at all.

After a few moments, Cindy and Tenma caught up with him.

"Are you feeling alright?" Tenma asked Atom after noticing something was wrong.

"I dunno, my shoulder feels really tense." Atom cringed for a moment.

"Do you want to go back to the car?" Cindy asked him with a gentle tone.

"No no, it's-" Atom stopped in the middle of his sentence and sighed.

"We can go back if you're not feeling well. We really won't mind." She looked at Tenma and he nodded in agreement.

"No no, I'm fine." Atom tried walking again to show it was all OK, but it only made things worse.

He finally just stopped and sat down on the ground.

Cindy kneeled down next to him.

"Let's just head back. It's getting late anyways."

Atom nodded, trying to get back up.

Tenma held his hand out and slowly helped bring Atom to his feet.

Atom sighed with a look of embarrassment. ((Again with the 'this isn't supposed to happen" embbarassy, shameful, awkward emotion from chap 12 [I'm calling it "awkward" for now on lol] ~Emily))

He tried taking a step but almost lost his balance.

Tenma quickly took his arm to help support him.

"I'll carry you." He said in an almost insistant way but with a look of deep concern on his face.

Atom nodded his head.

Tenma crouched down in front of Atom and let him slowly climb up to rest his arms over his shoulders.

The three of them walked the long distance back to the car, Tenma taking it as slow as he can and Cindy gently stroking Atom's back.

"Oh, I have to go to work, you think I could hitch a ride?" He asked after buckling his seatbelt.

"You really should call in sick." Cindy looked back at Atom.

"No it's fine, it's only a-," Atom let out a small sneeze. "Wow what a sneeze, anyways, it's only a half day so I'll be OK."

"You can barely walk."

"I'll be fine, don't worry, this'll pass."

"I insist you stay home." Tenma turned his head to Atom.

"Ugh… i'll be fine!"

"Do yourself a favor and stay home just this one time." Cindy added.

Atom sighed.

"It's fine, I can do myself a favor another time….I really don't wanna miss today."

"Why not?"

"Well it's a half day…"

"And what's so special about a half day?"

"I dunno."

"Then just stay home."

Atom sighed again.

"I'm-" Atom stopped himself.

He thought for a moment.

"Fine, I give up. You win." Atom attempted to trick Cindy with his not-so-great knowledge on Reverse Psychology.

"Thank you." She said with a sigh of relief then turned back to face the front of the car.

Atom blinked.

"Well that didn't work at all." He thought.

"Still gonna go to work though."

When they got back home, Astro was sitting at the table with music blaring loud and artwork of his scattered around the table, his laptop and pen tablet not too far from him.

"OH YOU'RE BACK?! THATS WAS A LONG ASS WALK!" He yelled over the music.

Tenma walked over and turned his music down.

"Bruh man why you gotta kill the aesthetic yo?"

"Did you have any problems taking care of Millie?"

"Wut?"

"Just a simple yes or no, assuming you did what I said and actually took care of her."

"Uh yeah she's fine, she may not be able to hear you for the next two hours and be scarred for life, but eh, can't say I didn't make a contribution…." 

"At least you did _something_." Tenma rolled his eyes and walked away, letting Astro turn the music back up.

"I wish things weren't so weird with Kaitlyn right now…. This would have been so much less stressful if she could have babysat Mille _and_ Astro." Cindy said to Tenma as they walked down the hall to the nursery.

"OH HEY ATOM HOW'S IT GOING?!" Astro yelled.

"I have to go to work but Cindy won't let me…."

"Pffft, just fuck all em' bicthes and do yo' shit brah, look at me, got all this shit done in the time it took you all to walk to lord knows where, trust me if they get pissed, just be chill ya know, pretend like you don't give a shit and they'll go easy on ya!"

"Uhhhhh, yeah, I guess…."

"Nah I'm just playing with you, you're stuck here, don't even think about leaving or you're just asking for your death…."

Atom sat down at the table.

"You people really must not want me to leave…"

"Well you walked out on us like I dunno, three, four times? Four? Was it four or three? Thre- no four, I dunno."

"The point is, they probably think you're gonna leave and then not come back again, so you might as well sit your ass down here and find something interesting, I dunno… just something so it won't _look_ like you're gonna walk out and not come back."

Atom sighed.

"Astro, I have a job."

Astro rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. And?"

" _So this had nothing to do with leaving and not coming back…._ "

"Then why you talkin ta me then, you know I'm rebellious and savage as fuck, you need to go consult a higher being, bitch. Not this low-life scum of an asshole that could honestly give no fucks at all."

Atom sighed again and sat up.

"I'm just gonna go."

"Fine by me, and if they ask, i'll just tell em' you're practicing your _moves_."

"Ummmmmm, maybe not."

"OK fine, you're planning your wedding, wait you're not even engaged, that won't work, hmmmmmm, and I can't pull out the sex jokes because you're too clean for sex….."

"Ahhh, what can I say! Oh, you needed some alone time, yeah, that'll work!"

Atom chuckled and headed out the door after grabbing his bag.

"What was that?" Tenma came into the room.

"What do you mean?" Astro replied.

"It sounded like a door opened, Atom didn't leave for work, did he?"

"Pfft nah bitch, he uh, needed some alone time so he went to his room, I guess he was feeling some strong emotion that made him wanna slam his door….." Astro shrugged.

Tenma squinted at Astro and left the room.

"Totally bought it." Astro laughed to himself.

Cindy decided to talk to Atom about why she didn't want him to go to work, she spent quite some time looking around the house, although, passing Astro, knowing he would most likely tell her a lie.

She had just checked Atom's room downstairs with no success and was walking up the stairs when Tenma saw her walking up.

"Did you talk to him yet?" He asked her.

"No. I still can't find where he is."

"So he isn't in his room?"

"No."

"Of course..."

"He left, didn't he?"

Late that night, Atom walked through the door with his bag on his shoulder and a box of pizza in his hand.

"Astro?" He asked.

Astro started laughing.

"Well, you can't say I tried….." He shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you mean? They didn't buy it?"

"No no, they bought it, for a moment…."

Atom sighed.

"Well I brought Pizza." Atom walked in and headed for the kitchen.

He walked in but stopped in his tracks.

Atom slowly turned around to see two people standing quite angrily.

He looked away for a moment.

"Pfft, no sweat Atom, no- FUCKING SHIT GOD FUCKING FUCK CAN I JUST- UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, that's it, IM DONE WITH THIS FUCKING SHIT, FUCK ALL YA'LL ASSHOLES IM TAKING A NAP!" Astro stood up and stormed away.

"Geez, all that just because his computer shut off?" Atom seemed confused.

He turned back around to face Tenma and Cindy.

Both their arms were crossed and Atom could see Cindy's foot tapping impatiently out of the corner of his eye.

He sighed, knowing what he did was wrong and how bad the consequences were gonna be. No surprises this time, Atom came prepared.

"I-I brought pizza." Atom muttered to lighten up the tone.

Tenma and Cindy glanced at each other for a moment, trying to decide which one of them should speak first.

"We're very disappointed in you, Atom." Tenma finally spoke up.

Atom nodded as if Tenma was a broken record.

"I wouldn't necessarily put it that way..." Cindy began, glaring at Tenma for a moment before looking back at Atom. "We were just concerned. Very concerned."

"I-" Atom was about to speak, but quickly stopped himself.

"I expected you to use your common sense and stay home after that dizzy spell you had." She walked up to Atom and put her hands on his shoulders.

" _I know but…"_

" _ **You let them down."**_

" _Of course I did, what's new?"_

" _ **Oh, I thought you needed a reminder."**_

Atom sighed again.

"You can't just leave like that. We understand you have a job, but you need to be more careful."

Atom glanced around the room, trying not to make eye contact.

Cindy took her hands away.

" _ **Why don't you just leave and go cry about it, hmm? You're too worthless to be happy anyways…"**_

Atom tried his best to hold back his tears.

"I-I'm going t-to go to sleep now." He said nearly inaudibly, before quickly storming past Cindy and Tenma to his room.

" _ **Great, we're making progress again, haha, I like this!"**_

"I told you not to say ' _disappointed_ '', Bill." Atom could hear Cindy say to Tenma up stairs. Her footsteps passed over, towards her's and Tenma's bedroom.

"Wh- But, sweetie." Tenma followed Cindy.

Atom heard a few more muffled words before his room went silent.

Astro walked out of his room to go grab his things and put them back in his room.

"Wow, heard what was going on from my room, seesh, way to hurt the little pipsqueak." He said to Tenma.

"How about you try parenting, hmmm? See how it is when you're in my shoes." Tenma sassed back.

"Hahaha, I wouldn't have to worry, my kids would be drug addict crack heads, I wouldn't need to discipline them, they'd be high all the time." Astro chuckled.

Tenma glared at him.

"I'm just being honest because if I can't do drugs, someone else is gonna have to….."

Tenma sighed and shook his head as he left the room.

"Yup, parenting skills on fleek." Astro walked over to the table and grabbed a few papers, gathered them together, and walked with them in his hand, back to his room.

The next day, Atom took a while to get out of bed, he felt ridiculously tired, constantly yawning and stretching his arms whenever he could.

He walked up the stairs only to hear the ringing of his phone go off.

Atom grunted and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He asked, trying to hide his frustration.

" _Oh, was today a bad day to call?"_

"Oh! St- no, it's fine…." Atom sighed.

" _You sure? You seem mad, or uh…. something of the sorts…."_

Atom heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.

"No, I'm good, haha… never felt better….." Atom purposely talked a bit louder than he did before.

He sat down at the table.

"Pffft, so then what did you do? Uh huh…. huh… mmmhmmm, hahaha."

"To be honest, no, but... I dunno, I guess it depends…"

The person finally walked into the room.

"Oh no, I didn't, you know I should get on that soon, keep procrastinating….."

After a few moments, Atom hung up the phone and sighed.

"What a mess, what a freaking mess…." He said in distress.

After grabbing something from the fridge, Cindy looked back at Atom.

Atom sighed again.

" _ **Say something."**_

"M-Morning." Atom said in a low voice.

" _ **Gosh you're so stupid!"**_

"Good morning." Cindy replied, sitting in front of Atom.

Atom tried to not let his emotions show in his face.

He looked around the room, hoping maybe she wouldn't pick up on anything.

Cindy opened her mouth as if to say something.

"Sup bitches how's it going, ya'll mofos durin gud?" Astro greeted as he walked out of the hallway, interrupting Cindy in the process.

Atom wanted to cringe.

Astro sat down next to Atom at the table.

"Astro… do you really need to be so obnoxious?" Atom asked.

"Ha! Says the one that got ratted out and ran away like a three year old, then again I won't blame you, can't have lectures cutting into your time reserved for masturbating." Astro slowly shook his head.

"Astro…. leave." Cindy seemed obviously disgusted.

"Alright, see ya laterz!" Astro got up and walked away laughing as hard as he could.

"STOP TAINTING HIM WITH YOUR HORRIBLE HABITS!" Cindy yelled to him as he left the room.

"Oh it's OK… i've heard worse…." Atom replied.

There were a few moments of silence followed by Cindy clearing her throat.

"So uh, you were gonna say something?" he asked.

"Oh.. Yes! Yes I was." She smiled to try and hide the awkwardness.

"I'm sorry about last night. Umataro and I might have come out as a little harsh. If you were in our position you would understand."

"It's fine, I…. I shouldn't have left to begin with, I deserved it…."

Later on in the day, Atom walked back inside the house after working with an odd smile on his face.

"OK it's either a red or a seven." Astro said.

"Hmmmm….. fuck I gotta draw." Astro leaned forward and grabbed a card from the deck.

"Fuckkkkkk this isn't helping, I'm never gonna get to uno if this shit keeps going!"

"I told you I was a master at this. I don't know why you doubted me. And now you're gonna owe me 20 dollars. You should be more careful what you place bets on." Tenma smirked as he placed a card down in the middle of the table.

"Ooo, what are you guys playing?" Atom asked, setting his bag on the floor.

"Mother fucking Ten- Uno! Wanna help me beat this man's ass?"

"Uhhhhh, no…. I think I'm good."

"Oh come on I'm losing here! Can you believe this sonofabitch has beat me five times today? FIVE TIMES! I _need_ to beat his ass!"

"I've got skills. What can I say?" Tenma shrugged with a cocky smile on his face.

"Yeah sure, haha, _real funny_." Astro rolled his eyes and put a card down.

"Uhh, Astro, that's a nine." Atom added.

"Ah fuck, why Atom!" Astro cringed, picking his card back up and placing down another one.

Tenma took a card from the deck and had a satisfied look on his face as he saw what it was, then placed it face-up on the middle stack of cards.

"Ugh why does he always get the good cards and I get the shitty cards? Bah! Next game _I'm_ shuffling!"

"Fine. Fine. I swear I didn't cheat. But you never believe me."

Atom chuckled, picked his bag up, and walked downstairs to his room.

A few hours later, Atom quietly walked up the stairs, hoping someone would be there.

To his surprise, no one was there.

He wanted to talk about his job, feeling that he didn't really need it anymore. He only got it to help support himself but now with being back at Tenma's home, what was the point?

But he obviously needed to consult someone first.

Atom sighed and just got a glass of water, sitting himself afterwards at the table, hoping someone would come out so he could talk to them.

Astro walked out of his room and walked to the kitchen, humming along the way.

"So you waitin' for someone, huh? Bad idea, no one's gonna show up…." Astro shook his head.

"Wish I could help but I have some 'important' things to get done ya know, things can't just be done for you, although that would be _really_ weird in this case…. oh well." He shrugged, taking a bottle of root beer from the fridge and leaving the kitchen.

Atom sighed.

"I just need advice, not really asking for much!"

He saw Tenma walk into the livingroom.

Atom waited a moment for him to walk a little more before he got up and followed him.

Tenma sat down on the couch and turned the TV on, Atom followed and sat on the other end of the couch.

Atom looked over at him, trying to catch his attention.

He soon gave up and forced a cough to grab Tenma's attention.

Tenma looked over, noticing that Atom was there.

"Oh! Hello, Atom."

"Oh! Uh.. Hello." Atom sounded somewhat nervous.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, sorta…" Atom shrugged.

"You want to talk about it?"

"I guess, if I'm not too boring for you?" Atom chuckled.

"You're not."

"Well uh, you know how I have my job at the pizza place, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I've been thinking of quitting…."

"Why's that?"

"I dunno, I just don't think I need it anymore, I only got it to keep me busy and give me cash, but I don't need that at this point…"

"And besides, i'd rather spend more time here with you guys then be at work all the time! I'm sure you'd probably wanna keep me here anyways, considering… all the times i've walked out…." Atom sighed, feeling the guilt settle in.

"I glad you made this decision on your own. You're really growing up." Tenma smiled at Atom.

Atom looked back at him and smiled for a moment before looking away.

"But I also just don't wanna leave after only working a week, I mean, what if I _do_ need it again?"

"I doubt you'll need it again. And there's plenty of better jobs out there. Ones you probably won't need until you're much much older."

"Haha, I already know what i'm gonna be when i'm older, it'll take a little while, but I think it'll be worth it."

"I'm sure it will be. What do you plan to do?"

"Oh, I haven't told you? Well, I plan on being a professional photographer."

"Ah I see."

"Seems a little odd though, considering everyone in the family is pursuing science, heck, even Stephen is pursuing technology, and that's science, right?"

"Yes. But being the oddball isn't always a bad thing. Kaitlyn's going to college for graphic design. That's along your alley. At least there's her."

"Yeah, I guess…."

"And you never know what Millie's going to like."

"Haha, Astro says she's gonna be the next meme, I highly doubt that though…."

"I don't really think that counts as a career choice." Tenma chuckled.

"Well what about Grumpy Cat?"

Tenma took out his phone and brought up a Screenchat of a Grumpy Cat plush saying 'I was forced to be a meme against my will'.

Atom chuckled.

"Hey you know what?" He looked at Tenma again.

"We should invite Stephen over for dinner tomorrow!"

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Mind you, he's a bit shy, but I think now would be a great time to introduce him to you guys…"

Atom and Tenma talked a bit more for sometime until it got a little late and Atom left to go to bed.

The next day Astro was the first to get up in the morning, he walked over to the table with a huge proud looking grin.

"Ah what a morning." He looked off into the distance.

Atom walked into the kitchen as he let out a big yawn.

Astro looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Stephen's coming over for dinner today." Atom began.

"Oh really? Good luck with that…."

Atom rolled his eyes and walked over to get a cup of water.

Soon after, Tenma walked in with his usual messy fluff of a bed head and walked towards the fridge.

"Sup Citizen?" Astro began.

"Good morning, Astro."

"Whatever happened to 'sup'? Has that become irrelevant, am I not caught up with the times?"

"I like to greet others formally, thank you." Tenma turned his head to Atom. "Good morning to you too, Atom."

"Morning!" Atom looked at Tenma with a cheeky smile.

Tenma smiled back.

"So what do you boys want for breakfast?"

"Cer-"

"Ah shut it! I'd like some crackers please, some crackers." Astro immediately cut Atom off.

"Pancakes and bacon it is, then." Tenma said after a short pause, then turned back to the fridge.

"So I was just talking to Astro about Stephen coming over today."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, although, he doesn't seem that interested…."

"Have you ever met Stephen, Astro?" Tenma looked over at Astro. ((Just came to proof read this and Kait wrote "Tenam" again, great job Kait…. ~Emily))

"No and I don't plan to."

"Oh come on, he's really nice, i'm sure he'll like you."

"Atom….. I didn't spend 3 or more fucking years on this shitty ass planet to meet someone that probably won't make this shit hole any better…."

Atom sighed. "Nevermind…"

Astro rolled his eyes.

"Why so sour, Astro?" Tenma closed the refrigerator door. "Don't jump to conclusions when you've never even spoken to the boy."

"Pfft, all humans are the same, I mean look at Brianna, geez, don't know what I saw in her, guess this was before she became like super savage, cuz geez… WHOO!"

"I can assure you Astro, he's different from Brianna, in a really really good way, I don't date fuck boys, sorry…." Atom slowly sipped from his cup, looking off into the distance. ((Damn Atom, fuckin savage. ~Emily))

Astro rolled his eyes again, folding his arms.

Hours later, Atom was in his room listening to music when he heard footsteps coming.

"Ho ho ho! It's Santa! You were so good this year that it's bad so here's a whole plate of coal! Ho ho ho!" Tenma opened the door with a plate of chocolate fudge cookies in his hand.

"Ummm, it's the middle of July?" Atom seemed confused but took a cookie anyways.

Tenma who couldn't help but laugh laughed. "I came down to let you know that Stephen is here and he's walking up the the door right-"

Atom spit out his crumbs.

"BABY! BABY, I HAVE COME TO ANSWER YOUR CALL!" He ran past Tenma, up the stairs and to the front door.

"Now..." Tenma tried to keep the plate from falling from his hands after Atom rushed past him.

"FRICK HOW DO YOU OPEN THIS DORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR?!" Atom panicked trying to turn the doorknob.

He soon got the door open and looked at Stephen with a smile.

"Hello!" He waved. ((I am letting out a reminder i don't do the best Stephen so ye, ur welcum lol hehe xD ~Emily))

Stephen looked confused for a moment but then smiled back.

"Well? You can come in."

"Oh." Stephen walked alongside Atom inside the house.

"So your mom left already."

"She left a while ago.."

"Oh, I hope I wasn't keeping you waiting."

"Oh, no no, wasn't out there for _that_ long…"

"Tenma's downstairs right now, not sure when he's coming up, and then Astros in his room, and I think the last time I saw, Cindy was going to the bathroom..."

Tenma walked back upstairs and headed down the hallway.

"Wait, isn't he the dude who was at my door that one day?"

"Oh! Haha… eeeeyeahhhh…." Atom nervously chuckled. "He was just concerned for me, is all. I did kinda run away… _again_ … without saying anything."

"Well you're back home now, that's good." Stephen tried reassuring Atom.

"Yeah..." Atom tried smiling.

"So uh, you know what the plans are?"

"Oh. We're just gonna talk for a bit then have dinner. Then dessert. Then talk some more."

"Hmmm, sounds interesting."

"Yup. Pretty intesrest-"

"Hey hey hey bitches it's Astro! Hows ya durn?!"

"Is he….?" Stephen looked over at Atom.

"... Yeaaaaaahhhhh?…. Nahhh?... I really don't know."

"Hahah look what the cat dragged in, wait is that how the saying goes? I dunno i give up, i hope you plan a great wedding." Astro patted Atom on the back and walked away.

"Yeah. That's how it goes. And thanks… even though I know you're being sarcastic…."

"S.S. Asshole coming through, choo choo motherfuckers!"

"Yo man Cindy bruh haven't eaten all day hook me up with that shit." Astro tried reaching for some of the food on the counter.

Cindy slapped his hand away. "No, Astro."

"But Cindy man i thought we were BFFs man like lemme have some."

"No. Dinner's almost ready. Go wait in the other room."

"Pfft, lady making me wait, AND THE S.S. ASSHOLE SAILS AGAIN! NEEEERRRRRRR MOVE OUT THE WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Tenma walked into the living room with Millie in his arm and the plate of cookies in his other. She was chewing on one of the cookies, getting soggy crumbs all over herself.

"Oh! Hello. You must be Stephen." Tenma set the cookies on the coffee table and walked over to Stephen, extending his arm out for a handshake.

" _Don't be a retard, not a retard….."_ Stephen thought.

He tried casually holding his arm out but it came out more nervous than anything. He missed Tenma's hand and kept missing it until he finally grabbed a hold of it and shook it weakly.

Atom finally caught up to Stephen.

"This is Millie."Tenma tried brushing off the awkwardness by introducing Stephen to the baby. She smooshed the rest of the cookie into her mouth and giggled.

"Oh! Tenma hahaha, this is Stephen, Stephen that's Tenma, and that's the baby you keep confusing with Cindy…."

"And uh, you already know the baby, Tenma…."

"Yup."

"Well, can't say I tried…"

Tenma chuckled.

"I'll be back in a minute. I have to clean her off before Cindy knows I let her have a cookie before dinner. Think you can put the cookies in the kitchen table for me?" Tenma looked towards the coffee table.

"Sure!" Atom picked up the plate, stuffed a cookie in Stephen's mouth and walked away with a smile.

He soon followed behind Atom to the kitchen.

"Thank you, Atom." Cindy smiled at Atom as he put the cookies on the table.

"No problem!" Atom walked away.

"And this is the famous Stephen, huh?" She looked over at Stephen as she turned from the counter.

"Oh yeah, Stephen, this is Cindy, the person you keep confusing the baby with…."

"And Cindy this is Stephen."

Cindy chuckled and gave Stephen a pat on the shoulder.

Stephen tried not to look nervous.

"You two can just relax for now. Dinner will be ready in… 5 minutes." She looked over at the clock on the oven.

After a while, everyone sat down at the table for dinner.

"Hey, where's Astro?" Atom asked, looking at Stephen who pushed his seat forward for him.

"YES TIS I ASTRO! I HAVE RETURNED FROM MY SELF LOVING SESSION, WENT TERRIBLE BUT YOU CAN'T BE PICKY IN A WORLD LIKE TODAY'S!" Astro yelled from the hallway.

"I am not on drugs I fucking swear OK, not a cock-a-doodle-dooer on dope, bad for your colon kids….." Astro sat down at the table. 

"Yeah, ready to EAT THIS SHIT WHOOOOOOO!" He seemed much more energetic than usual.

"Astro. What did I say about cursing?" Cindy looked over at him.

"Nothing, hahaha, no really tho, you said nothing, im not joking, look this bitch thinks im joking but im not alright?"

"I told you multiple times not to do it around Millie."

"So what she's a baby! She can't even say her own name yet, seesh, and at this rate if its not me it'll be society that'll poison her, you trying to be mama dearest isn't gonna help much."

"Look. If you stop the bad habit now, you won't be doing it around her when she can talk."

"Pffft, look at Citizen, he's a fine ass piece of shit, no homo, but look. He's a prime example on why shielding your kids does nothing!"

"Astro. If you don't stop, you'll be eating in your room. Now sit down and be respectful. We have company over." Tenma glared at Astro.

"Pffft, you mean what the cat dragged in, gee I hope I got it right, and i'm perfectly fine eating alone, what do you think midnight snacking is, hmmm?" Astro looked away to give himself a more cinematic look.

"Go to your room. You can come back out when you're ready to be nice."

"Alright see you bitches next millennium!" Astro got up and left, throwing peace signs in the air.

Atom sighed.

"Don't worry about him….. he's like that everyday…." His voice sounded disappointed.

"I'm sorry about that." Tenma said to Stephen. "He's… a handful."

"Oh it's fine… I can relate, sadly…"

"Stephen your mom's not a psychopath…." Atom butted in.

Stephen sighed.

"One day you'll believe me."

"I highly doubt that, but I'm not gonna pick a fight, we should really try out the food, I can feel the steam from here!" Atom replied, looking at all the food with wide eyes. ((Or is it cuz Stephen is right next to you hmmmm? I know what ur tryna do Atom CANT FOOL ME, I KNOW UR HITTING ON STEPHENNNNNNNNNN ~Emily))

Stephen sighed, but quickly glanced around to see if anyone noticed.

"So, Stephen," Tenma began, trying to start a small conversation to break the awkward silence.

Stephen looked up and tried not to look nervous.

"Hey, you should tell him how you tore up Uno yesterday." Atom said to Tenma.

He turned to Stephen.

"Tenma and Astro played Uno yesterday and Astro got his butt beat." He laughed.

Tenma let out a small laugh.

"It's all strategy." He boasted.

"Astro seemed pretty upset, but the game was still fun to watch."

"We can play some Uno later, if you guys want to. Or any game, really."

"I dunno, you good at Uno?" Atom asked.

Stephen shrugged.

"What do you like to do in your free time, Stephen?" Cindy asked, turning away from Millie, who she was feeding with spoonfuls of some kind of mush.

Stephen froze. "Uhhhh….."

"He likes video games, and tweaking his computer, right? I got that right, right? Gee, how much about my boyfriend do I know?"

"I was quite a computer nerd when I was a teen, before I got into robotics and mechatronics." Tenma added with a dorky smirk, trying his best to connect to Stephen and help him open up a little.

"That seems more up your alley! I mean I wouldn't know, all I do is take dumb pictures, but hey! Not bad…"

Stephen looked around at everyone then looked down at his food and slowly ate some of the food off his fork, doing his best not to make anymore eye contact.

Atom sighed.

"Hey… if you don't wanna talk, it's fine, I get it." he began.

"You can open up when you want to…" Atom took Stephen's hand to comfort him. ((I nominate Atom for best boyfriend 2k37 ~Emily))

Stephen struggled to cover up the sudden red of his cheeks.

Atom chuckled.

"We understand. Take your time, Stephen." Tenma smiled warmly.

"You know, we should tell them the story of how we met! It's kinda funny, well I think its funny… probably pretty lame now that I think about it…."

"No, no. Tell us!" Cindy looked over at Atom.

"Alright, Alright, it-it's been a while… probably won't get all the details right…"

"When was it? Was it like January, wait no I was born in May so that can't be right….. June, July-ish? Probably around there…"

"And you were moving in right? Yeah, I was uhh, what was I doing? I dunno, I was doing something. And then…. Uh…. you. You-you, what were you doing? Oh gosh im so bad at this haha… uhhh…. I know!"

"You were lifting a box, to carry inside? I think… anyways, I'm walking to lord knows where for whatever reason it may be… and then… uh… I just kinda, bumped into you? You like dropped the box and I was all like 'oh no i'm sorry ahh lemme pick that up for you' and then you. You…. you uh… you were like 'oh no it's fine i got it' and then your mom came out and she was like 'wow we just got here and you're already making friends!' and then your face got red and you just picked up the box and left….."

"I think thats it…. That's it right? Gee I hope so."

Stephen agreed with a small nod.

"I try really hard not to forget that day, for obvious reasons that is…"

Stephen looked at Atom with a smile.

Atom smiled back.

Tenma looked over at Cindy with a smile as well.

Millie let out a loud giggle as she smashed her hands into her food and sloppily put it into her mouth.

Atom chuckled, looking at Millie.

"You should have seen the look on his face it was priceless." Atom held the basement door for Stephen. "After you…"

Stephen smiled slightly and walked down the stairs.

"I'm not usually one for card games, but Uno seems about my speed…"

"Stephen?"

Stephen was taken back for a moment in both horror and awe at the small lab in front of him.

"What's all this for?" He asked, somewhat less monotone than usual.

"What do you mean I _live_ here, my rooms in the basement 'cause there's no room upstairs, trust me, I used to live in an extension on a hard mattress, so this is an upgrade."

"No. This." He pointed at the computer system.

"Hmmm…" Atom walked up to Stephen.

"Not sure… seems fancy that's for sure…"

"It's cool."

"Yeah, it looks pretty nice… I guess." Atom walked over to the door next to the stairwell.

"This is my room!" He beamed as he opened the door.

Stephen followed him.

"It's kinda… cozy." He walked in and Atom followed him.

Atom jumped onto the bed.

"As much as I miss my hard bed and how straight it kept my back, this is nice and soft, which I like…"

Stephen sat next to Atom on the bed.

"So enough about me, I wanna know, what's new with you?!"

"Nothing."

"Hmmmm…. Interesting…"

Atom sighed.

"Look, I know you're still worried about Tenma and Cindy, but I promise there's nothing wrong with them!"

"I'm not worried about that. They seem cool. Better than my crazy mom or Dr. Elefun."

"You really think so? I've been trying this whole time to make us seem normal, you know? Astro kinda set off a bad tone, which kinda ruined things but uh… I didn't want you to think we were crazy nutjobs!"

"Astro's Astro. Doesn't mean everyone else is nuts."

Atom sighed. "You're right… I'm sorry." he leaned his head on Stephen's shoulder.

Stephen put his arm around Atom.

Atom smiled.

"You really like it here, don't' you?"

"Well for the most part, still don't think I blend in too well, but it's not that bad."

"It's really nice here. They really care about you."

"Pffft, tell me that when I'm anxious…" Atom rolled his eyes.

Stephen chuckled and leaned over to give Atom a kiss on the forehead.

Atom blushed with a chuckle then lifted his head to kiss Stephen on the lips.

An hour or so had passed when there was a knock at the front door.

Stephen opened his eyes to see Atom asleep next to him. They must have fallen asleep, he thought.

He knew who it was at the door the second they spoke. The voice rattling the walls and shivering down his spine.

 _It was his_ _ **mom**_ _ **.**_

 _ ***cue dramatic music***_

((Wow how dramatic Stephano xDDD ~Emily))

"Hello! You must be Stephen's mother." Cindy greeted with a smile.

"Hi! And you must be Atom's!"

"Oh. Um, technically, no."

"Oh. Well my name is Jennifer, nice to meet you!" She held out her hand for a handshake.

"I'm Cindy." She shook Jennifer's hand with smile.

"Oh what a lovely place!" She walked into the house and looked around.

"Oh. Um. Thank you. I-"

"Being a mother is so difficult, isn't it?" Stephen's mother sighed heavily.

"Ah. Yes it-"

"My son, Stephen, he sits on the computer all day, playing those _video games_. I never understood them. How can you constantly deprive yourself of the sun, vitamin D, like that? I told myself I wouldn't drink anymore. But that boy. Oh he makes me want a glass of red wine every night, and quite honestly, I sometimes give in. Oh the misery! He does no chores! He only eats chips and soda! What am I supposed to do?"

"Haha. I can relate actu-"

"Cindy. Cindy, you understand, right? Oh I hope Atom doesn't do those sorts of things. Maybe, just maybe, he'll get my poor boy to live life a little… Right?"

"Ah."

"On top of all that!..."

Tenma walked into the room holding Millie as Jennifer began to rant about her job to Cindy.

He began walking slowly out of the room when Cindy noticed him.

"Oh what's that, honey? The baby is crying for me?" She interrupted Stephen's mother.

"Uh. No. She's not-"

"Oh come here sweetie. Everythings ok." Cindy cooed at Millie as she took her from Tenma and walked out of the room.

"Um." Tenma awkwardly looked over at Jennifer.

"Do I know you? I sworn I've seen you before." She squinted at him.

"Ah. I don't recall. Hold on a moment. I'll be right back!" Tenma rushed over to the basement door and opened it.

"Stehpen! Your mother is here to pick you up!" He called down the stairs.

"Hu-wha?" Atom opened his eyes.

"Ugh! Don't remind me." Stephen said to himself.

"Rude." Atom rolled over to his side./\

"No. Not you. My mom's here. Your dad- I mean TEnma…. Just yelled down here. Like I didn't already hear her screaming at the top of her lungs before she even knocked on the door."

"Oh." Atom sat up. "Well I'll go up and say hi to her before you go." Atom crawled out of bed and left his room to go upstairs.

"Don't leave me… I don't wanna go back with that she-beast." Stephen whispered to himself as he hugged his knees.

Atom turned around, he sat down next to Stephen, taking his hand. "We'll go up together, if that makes you feel better."

"I don't want to go, though. We barely see each other anymore…. And I miss you."

Atom sighed. "I know but… things are really awkward right now, maybe when I get a bit more situated here you can come more often."

Stephen nodded.

Atom smiled. "But hey, it was nice seeing you."

Stephen smiled back then gave Atom a kiss.

Atom chuckled then stood up. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Stephen got up and stood next to Atom, still holding his hand.

The two of them walked out of the room and up the basement stairs.

"God. What took you so long?" Tenma whispered to them.

"Ummmmm, pep talk?" Atom shrugged.

"I feel so sorry for you." Tenma looked Stephen square in the eyes.

Jennifer was still ranting on as Stephen and Atom made it into the living room.

"Hello miss!" Atom intervened.

"Oh! Atom! How are you doing, sweetie?"

"Great! I'm- I'm doing quite nice…."

"Oh that's great! AW and look at my boy. Is that a smile I see?" She looked over at Stephen.

He stared at her with his usual dead eyes.

"Progress. Progress is good." She smiled nervously.

"Yep. Gave him a little pep talk for the road, I wouldn't say I'm the wisest, but I do know a few things on the ways of life…"

"Oh! Isn't that nice of you! Well thank you all so much for having him over!" Jennifer looked at Atom and Tenma.

"It was a pleasure." Tenma smiled.

"I'll be out in the car waiting for you honey. Come out after you say your goodbyes." Stephen's mom walked out the front door.

Tenma sighed with relief.

"Welp, this is it." Atom looked at Stephen.

Stephen smiled at Atom and gave him a hug.

Atom smiled back and held him tightly without crushing him.

They let go.

Everyone said their goodbyes as Stephen and his mom left.

"You guys are cute." Tenma looked at Atom as he closed the front door.

Atom blushed. "Y-You really think so?"

"Of course!"

Atom chuckled.

Tenma ruffled his hair.

"Goodnight, Atom."

"Night!" Atom waved to Tenma and walked back down the stairs to his room.

He typed something into his phone before setting it down on his bedside table and falling asleep.

 _To: Stephen 3_

 _ **I love you!**_

 _Sending…._

 _((END OF CHAPTER 13!))_


	14. Every Planet We Reach Is Dead

" _ **I love you, but what are we going to do?"**_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Fourteen: Every Planet We Reach is Dead

Atom sat down on the ground and stared at the ceiling.

He sighed.

"Ugh… stomachs in a knot." He whined.

Atom looked over at his arm that still had a few minor bruises left.

"Wonder when these will go away?" He thought outloud.

Atom stood up and left his room.

Astro was already sitting at the table with his head resting on the keyboard of his laptop, a pen still in his hand, and papers scattered about.

Atom walked up to him.

"Astro?" He gently shook his shoulder.

"I'M NOT DRAWING PORN!" Astro snapped his head up and shouted.

"Ummmmm….o..kay….then…." Atom slowly walked away.

Astro bashed his head against his keyboard and snored.

Atom sighed after opening the fridge, cringing.

Tenma walked into the room, looking down at Astro, then turning his attention to the open refrigerator door.

Atom quickly abandoned the fridge and bolted out the kitchen and to the bathroom.

Confused, Tenma closed the door and sat at the table.

Astro snored loudly.

Tenma reached over and tried to wake up Astro.

"I'M NOT DRAWING PORN!" Astro snapped his head up again and shouted for the second time.

Tenma sat back in his chair, surprised and watched as Astro fell back to sleep on his laptop.

Atom came back from the bathroom.

"You feeling alright?" Tenma looked up at him.

Atom sighed and sat down, shaking his head.

"Is it the medicine again?"

"No no, I'm just… sick, again."

"Oh. Do you need anything? I can make you some tea or get you some extra blankets for your room."

"No no, it's fine…" Atom waved his hand in disagreement.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Astro slowly woke up again.

"Mmmmmm… shit… da fuck am I?"

"What's wrong with you?" Tenma shook his head with a chuckle.

"What? I was uhhh… streaming shit…" ((Follow Astro on Twitch everyone xDDDDDD ~Emily))

"No. You… You know what. Nevermind."

"Hmmmm, alright then." Astro shrugged.

"Were you drawing porn?" Atom asked

"WHAT?! NO!" Astro snapped.

"Well you were screaming _'I'm not drawing porn!'_ like you _were_ drawing porn."

"How many more times are you gonna say the word 'porn'?"

Atom shrugged.

"It's- It's a joke… you wouldn't get it unless you've lived here for a while…"

"Why don't _I_ know anything about this 'joke' then?" Tenma raised an eyebrow.

Astro shrugged and got up from the table. "I dunno, you deaf?" He picked up a few papers and left to put them back in his room.

Tenma scowled, then looked over at Atom with a blank face.

"He really tries to be funny…." Atom responded before coughing.

"I know..."

"Um. I uh... I have a question."

"Go ahead." Tenma's expression lightened up as he prepared to listen.

"Is it bad to worry about someone you're angry at?" Atom looked down at his hands as he slowly asked.

"No."

"I wonder how Kaitlyn's doing… I haven't talked to her in months… and well… I hope she's doing alright. I feel so bad but I'm still so angry at what she did..."

"I'm sure she only did it to help you."

Atom sighed.

"I'm positive she would have been here by now to apologize.. But if I were her, I wouldn't want to come back after I practically slammed the door on her face..." Tenma sighed along with Atom.

"It's fine… It's my fault anyways, if I would've kept my mouth shut things wouldn't have gone into a downwards spiral." Atom rested his head in his hand.

"It's been getting hectic for everyone recently, hasn't it?"

"Most likely…"

"At least she's happy…. perhaps..."

" _Hello! You've reached the phone of Brandon Carter. If you're hearing this message, then I am a little too occupied at the moment. Please leave a message and I'll be sure to contact you back soon!"_

 _Beep!_

"Hey. Uh. Brandon. It's me, Kaitlyn. This is like…. The 30th? time I've tried to call you. But I understand how busy you are. I just. Um. Well my friend is coming back from her grandmother's place in a couple of days. And I was wondering if we could hangout a little bit. Just you and me. Before things get busy again. If you have time, though. Um. Well I'll talk to you soon! I guess… Bye..."

Kaitlyn placed her P-phone down on her nightstand and sighed.

"Ughhhh." She grunted out of the frustration of being bored out of her mind.

Unexpectedly, her phone went off, letting off an annoying ring.

She picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Kait?"

"Yeah?"

"I just got your message. Sorry I couldn't get to my phone fast enough. I was speaking with my parents."

"That's alright."

"I… uh… I'm really busy this week-"

"You say that every other day..."

"But it's true!... Sorry… Um. Any hanging out is going to have to wait for now..."

Kaitlyn sighed.

"I'm really sorry. You know I am. It's only my schedule is filled from 8 to 6 everyday. If you had multiple jobs at once, (Or any job at all...) you'd understand."

"I didn't really ask for the sass. But fine. You're busy. I get that. I don't want to get in the way of that. It's all probably really important..."

There was a long pause.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I have to go. I need to get ready for work tomorrow..."

"Ok."

"Bye-"

Kaitlyn hung up the phone.

She reached over to her desk and grabbed her earbuds, placing them in her ears and putting the jack in her phone.

She decided a long time ago that it-... _he_ isn't worth any tears. TubeYou had yet to disappoint her.

"'Why are you streaming today, you just streamed yesterday?' Because it's a free country fucktard." Astro took a sip of his root beer.

"'Lol u still drawin porn?' Ummmm, no I'm past the rough sketch phase, thankfully, but maybe later?"

"'U ugly.' Congrats you just got nominated for president!"

"... assholes...fuck… fuckin assholes." Astro took another sip of his root beer.

"'Wheres atom?' I SWEAR HALF YOU PEOPLE SHOW UP JUST TO SEE MY TWIN! Makes no fucking sense…" ((I don't blame them. ~Kait))

"'Are you just taking questions rn, wanna knwo when ur drawing?' Uhhh, kinda taking questions right now to avoid art block, but i'll be drawing more stuff soon…"

"'do you livestream everyday?' No, I stream whenever the fuck I feel like it, people hate me for it but hey, not my problem." Astro shrugged.

Atom came up the stairs.

"Aye look, it's Atom, the only reason you assholes show up to my streams!"

"Wha?" Atom turned around.

"I'm livestreaming."

"Oh." Atom walked up Astro's laptop.

"Hi internet!" He greeted with a smile.

Astro cringed. "I swear to god they only come here to see you…"

"I dunno, guess I have fans…" Atom shrugged with a blush.

Astro rolled his eyes.

"God. The chat's going nuts. Are you proud of yourself?" he turned to Atom in annoyance.

Atom chuckled. "I guess?"

Astro turned back to the laptop screen and reached for his pen.

Atom walked away to the fridge to get a bottle of water.

"So you're just drawing?" He asked, opening the cap to his bottle and taking a sip.

"Pretty much, yep." Astro replied.

"Well I'm gonna go back downstairs so uhh, bye internet!" Atom waved goodbye and headed for the basement.

Astro rolled his eyes again and took a sip of his root beer as the chat exploded again with a million _"GOODNIGHT ATOM! I LOVE YOU!"_ s. ((Omfg. That's 2037 for you guys…. ~Emily))

A few days had gone by until Emily had returned from visiting her grandmother's for the Summer.

" _Hi"_

" _ **Hi"**_

" _Hi"_

" _ **Hi"**_

" _I be back."_ ((An accurate representation of our Skype messages ~Emily))

"She's early..." Kaitlyn said to herself as she read the text message.

" _So wuz up?"_

" _ **Nm"**_

" _Kool."_

"I really should go say hi to her in person…."

" _Brb gotta unpack shit lol"_

" _ **Kk"**_

Kaitlyn decided on visiting Emily as a surprise.

She slowly got out of bed and tried her best to freshen up. Sitting in your room for weeks with the blinds closed doesn't really do much for one's complexion.

Soon enough she was on her way to Emily's house.

Emily was sitting on her bed, slowly getting up and walking over to her suitcase, picking it up and putting on her bed so she could put her clothes away. ((wrote most of that without looking at the keyboard. I am proud ~Emily))

Kaitlyn pulled up to a "guest" parking space and turned off her car, sighing.

She slowly got out of her car and strolled the sidewalk to get to Emily's front door.

She felt something vibrate in her back pocket.

She reached back and brought her phone in front of her.

 _Call Incoming_

 _Brandon_

"Why now?" She groaned but tapped the answer button anyways.

" _Kait! Hi!"_

"Hi."

" _I finally have some free time! Only an hour, but any time I get these days is like gold."_

"Uh. How about you spend that hour you have alone? You're always so busy. You deserve a little break."

" _Oh. Did… did I do something wrong?"_

"No..."

" _Oh. Um. I guess I could take the time to organize my trophy collection. It's getting a tad untidy."_

"Yeah. Sounds fun." Kaitlyn looked off into the distance as if looking into a camera like they do on _The Office_ _TM_

" _Are you sure you don't want to spend this time together?"_

"Yeah. My friend came back already anyways. I think I'd like to spend some time with her."

" _Instead of me?"_

"Don't say it like _that_. It makes it sound like…."

" _It's ok. I understand. I deserve it. I should have asked for more time off…. I just…."_

"It's not you. I just can't accept the fact that I'm not the most important thing in people's lives."

" _I-I… I uh…."_

"You deserve so much better than me. Your parents want the best for you. You and… um… _what's-her-name_ will be happy together. She'll understand how hard you work and that it's worth it..."

" _But it- it doesn't- It's not- Are you saying?..."_

"We um. We should take a break. Maybe even a _permanent_ break."

" _I….If…. Maybe you're right..."_

"Maybe..."

" _I guess this is goodbye for now then..."_

"Yeah. But being friend isn't so bad, right? It's probably for the best."

" _Correct…."_

"Goodbye."

" _Goodbye."_

Kaitlyn sighed as she locked her screen and put her phone back into her pocket.

She slowly knocked on the door, then rang the doorbell to ensure someone would open.

"Oh! Umm.. I'm sorry, but Emily is a little busy right now, do you think you could come back maybe later?" Emily's mom began when she opened the door and noticed Kaitlyn.

"Oh. Um. Yeah. Sure. Sorry..."

"It's okay… thank you!" she closed the door.

Kaitlyn sighed again and began walking away, her head down.

She changed her mind and decided on being more firmer with much more persistence than before.

She knocked on the door once more.

It took a moment before Emily's mom came out again.

"I'm sorry but Emily is very busy right now, how about you come back after 5."

"Uh. I mean can I wait here maybe? I drove all the way here..."

"Ummm, I mean you're going to be standing out there for quite some time…"

"I mean _inside_."

"Oh ummm… It's a little bit crazy in there…"

"I don't mind."

They stood in a standstill for a while.

"So how's the family?" Kaitlyn tried to break the silence.

"Uhhhh, we're doing great…"

"Good… good…."

"Look, I have to do a few things around the house, not to be so uhhh… maybe we can talk more later?"

"I could help!"

"Oh it's fine, it's just baby stuff, still in the potty training phase…"

"I love kids!... Not like that…. But like…."

"Haha, that's wonderful, now I'm gonna go get started and I'll be back later…" Emily's mom tried closing the door, but Kaitlyn stopped her.

"Oh. So you don't wanna do any of that ol' gossip?" She strained a smile.

"Gossip?"

"You know. Woman stuff. Haha. Isn't it fun being an adult!?"

"Ummm…. Yes."

" _HEY ARE YOU GONNA CLOSE THE DOOR OR NOT?!"_

"Haha, looks like my husband's calling me so uh…"

"Oh I haven't seen Ivan in forever!"

"Oh really? Interesting…" ((No shit mom. ~Emily))

"So any chores or anything you need help with?"

"Ummm, no it's OK, I think I can handle it."

"I'm sure you need help with something."

"No no it's fine, really."

"You sure?"

"Yes yes I'm sure."

"Really sure?"

"Uh huh."

"Really _really_ sure?"

"... yes…"

"Don't need some company?"

"No no it's OK, I think I'm good."

" _Mom, who the hell are you talking to?"_

"Uhhh… I really hate to be rude Kaitlyn, but I kinda have things to do right so if you could just…"

"I'll just sit on your couch. You won't even know I'm here!"

" _IS THAT KAITLYN ooooMAHGOODNESSaaaaaAAAAAAhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH!"_ Emily came rushing down the stairs.

"Hi." Kaitlyn said, her head poking through what was open of the nearly closed door.

"Emily what did I tell you, go back to unpacking."

"Pfft, I'm finished. Hows it goin?" Emily asked.

"Well I'm not dead yet… so there's that."

"Emily, go back upstairs, I got this…." Emily's mom was trying hard to close the door.

"Please don't make me leave..."

"I'm sorry, but she is very busy at the moment, maybe you could come back this weekend, I'm sure she won't be busy then."

"I have no idea what day it is anymore, so any day could be the weekend..."

"It's Wednesday…"

"If you rearrange the letters in Wednesday, you get Saturday."

"'Wednesday' has no 't' in it, sorry."

"Oh really _I had no idea 't' was the only letter S_ _ **atur**_ _day and_ _ **Wedne**_ _sday didn't share…..._ "

"Mmmhmm."

"Oh my god..." Kaitlyn would have facepalmed if both her hands weren't plastered against the door, trying to hold it open.

"Mom please-"

"Go. Upstairs. I told you, I got this."

"Please don't. I'm a very sad child."

"You know what, fine, stand there. But you are _not_ getting anywhere _near_ this house."

"But it's hot outside…. Come on, Jan. We've known each other for years."

"I'm sorry, but now is not the right time to come visit, good day."

Kaitlyn sighed as she let Emily's mom close the door.

"I don't know why I didn't just walk off..." She said to herself.

Emily sighed and walked back up the stairs, trying to collect herself.

Kaitlyn walked back to her car as she was doing earlier.

She felt her phone vibrate again.

Despite how badly she wanted to let it keep ringing or to throw it down onto the pavement, she took it out and answered it.

" _Hey Kaitlyn!"_

"Hey Emily."

" _So uh… what happened down there, was that you?"_

"Yeah. God, I'm so sorry. That was so awkward. I don't know why I did that. I could have just left and come back..."

" _No no, it's fine, my mom's just really in a mood right now…"_

"I guess..."

" _Hey uh… umm… I uh…. I kinda wanted to talk to you about uh…. Something, n-not right now! Just uhhh… when you see me."_

"Yeah… Actually. I have an idea for something we can do this weekend. It's been awhile since I've done it and I thought I'd show you."

" _Oh! Uhhh, okay! I'm down for anything! As long as it isn't… dangerous, that is…"_

"It's not. Trust me."

" _Haha, alright, sounds like a plan!"_

"Ok. Tell me what day you can do it later."

" _Uh huh."_

"See you then."

" _Haha OK, bai."_

"Bye."

Kaitlyn hung up the phone.

She felt a smile on her face. She hadn't smiled in a long time.

It was Saturday, Kaitlyn yet again pulled up the the "guest" parking space while Emily was standing outside her front door, dressed a bit more girly than usual.

Kaitlyn walked up to Emily.

"Hey! Your outfit's cute!" Kaitlyn greeted Emily, noticing her clothes.

"Haha, thanks." She tried to not let her cheeks go red.

"No prob, Bob." Kaitlyn chuckled.

Emily laughed.

"Wanna get going now?"

"Ummm yeah sure."

They both got into the car and Kaitlyn drove away.

"I hope you don't mind but you might have to sleep over. I don't know how traffic's going to be and it might be further away than I remember… And I'm sure your mom doesn't want you coming home super late and waking everyone up."

"Ummm…. Well I uh…. I didn't bring a change of clothes…"

"You can wear some of my pjs. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll fit. I think I have some that are a little too small on me."

"Alright then…"

"So how are you? I haven't seen you since… I dunno Spring break?"

"Oh uh- I'm doing fine…"

"You have fun at your grammy's?"

"Yeah, it was nice."

"I keep saying I'll come up and stay there with you guys for a few days. Yet I never do. I really should. Who knows how long it'll be until you stop going?"

Emily chuckled. "I guess if you really want to."

"I love the country man. I know you're not fond of going outside. But it's just so… outside… I guess. Haha"

"Haha, yeah."

After a while the landscape began to change. Emily looked out the window as the houses they passed by gradually grew further and further apart. They went past farms and past rolling grassy hills. The sun slowly set before then.

They soon reached their destination.

Kaitlyn pulled into an old campsite surrounded in uncut grass and trees. She got out of the car and faced the pink sky.

Emily moved her head before leaning back on her seatbelt again.

"Hey Emi. Get up. We're here."

"Hmm?" Emily looked up and felt the drool all over her face.

Kaitlyn chuckled. "Come on. It's really nice out."

She walked to the back of her car and opened the trunk.

Emily slowly but surely got out of the car, still a bit groggy and sleepy from the nap.

Kaitlyn made her way over to a patch of grass and moss, her arms full of what Emily could only make out to be cloth. She laid out a big, old gingham blanket on the ground. It had a few faded stains but looked soft and warm. Kaitlyn sat down on one side of it and patted the side next to her, inviting Emily to sit next to her.

Emily slowly walked over and plopped down next to her.

"Look what I got." Kaitlyn pulled two root beers out of the cooler she had next to her and smiled.

Emily yawned. "That's…nice."

She handed one to Emily.

Emily gladly took it from Kaitlyn.

"Here's to life! Thanks for sucking ass, life! You're the worst!" Kaitlyn held her bottle in the air for a toast before taking in a big gulp.

Emily chuckled and took a small sip of her root beer.

"God, I wish this was real beer. But I'm too much of a wimp to break the law..."

"Beer is bad for you."

"I know. But trust me I need it."

Emily shrugged.

Kaitlyn sighed, more out of contentment but with a hint of frustration, and fell back onto the blanket, resting her arm behind her head.

Emily yawned again.

The sun was halfway past the horizon and the clouds slowly passed by, like large puffs of cotton candy.

"My aunt and uncle took me here the first time they brought me down to Florida. I was like… 10 maybe. They heard from some old guy on the ship they took a cruise on the summer before that it was the best place to see the stars in all of South Florida. The old guy wasn't wrong."

"Haha, nice." Emily smiled.

"Some of the stars are coming out. Look!" Kaitlyn pointed straight above her.

Emily chuckled and looked at the sky for a moment, then at Kaitlyn.

"I don't want to bore you… but things have been pretty rough… I sound selfish don't I? Ugh. But When I drove to your house the other day, I saw a kid out on his bike. I used to love shit like that. 'What happened to me?' I asked myself. I really don't know what's been going on in my own head..." She looked over at Emily for a moment then back up at the sky. "I um… I thought I'd take you here. I haven't done anything like this in a long time and I kinda miss it… and I thought you'd like it too."

"It's pretty…"

"Isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Kaitlyn's small smile faded.

Emily looked over at her. "You okay?"

"Not really."

Emily sighed, she wasn't that great at helping people.

"I broke up with Brandon on Wednesday, right before I walked up to your house."

"Oh…"

"The problem is… it didn't hurt like I thought it would. It was almost a relief… And I dunno. That kinda bothers me. Like, aren't I supposed to feel sad, or defeated, or angry?"

"I dunno." Emily shrugged.

"I liked him, I guess. But not as much as I made myself think I did."

"Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, I dunno, I give terrible advice…"

"I was lonely before I was with him, while I was with him, and after. At this point I wonder when I'm ever not going to be lonely."

"I feel you, I get lonely all the time…."

"I'm sorry this all has to be about me and my petty mess. I really should be listening to you talk about your visit with your grandma and how school was and whatever it was that you wanted to talk about..."

"It's fine, I promise, I really have nothing to talk about, hearing your problems doesn't bother me at all…"

"It's enough about me, though. I kinda feel better after letting it all out, you know?" Kaitlyn tried her best to smile.

"Yeah." Emily smiled back.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about. You mentioned it back on Wednesday."

"Oh! Uhhh… n-nevermind… It's-it's uh- it's nothing! Nothing, really…"

"Come on. When do we ever keep secrets from each other?"

"It's not a secret it's just- argh!" Emily's cheeks went red.

"Oh! You like someone, don't you! Tell me about it, sista!"

"N-no, I don't like anyone! I do it solo, remember?"

"I dunno man. I know that look."

"It's fine… really…"

"Ok ok. Tell me when you're ready. I'm always here to listen." Kaitlyn looked out at the sky. There were more stars than lights in the city and the sky, the sun wasn't even down all the way yet.

"There's nothing to tell you." Emily muttered.

"Alright. Alright. We can just look at the stars then."

Emily sighed. "Okay."

Kaitlyn took out her phone, opened an app, and held it up to the sky.

Emily felt bad for not opening up to Kaitlyn and acting rude, but she felt really awkward and rushed into everything. ((I s2g i'm already dating this woman and writing this is hella awkward ~Emily))

"There's Leo!" Kaitlyn pointed to a clump of stars. "I don't know why but it's always fun to find my constellation… and see it too. It's those five really bright stars there. And those other ones branching off of it."

Emily lied down and turned to her side. "Nice."

"And there's Scorpio."

"Cool."

"It's one over from mine. Stupid Libra's in the way. I'm tellin ya man, libra's are evil."

"I thought Scorpio's were evil?"

"Nah. That's just what everyone thinks."

Emily chuckled.

"Zodiac signs are stupid, really. They don't mean anything. But it's still fun, though."

"True."

"The best thing about them is there are stars out there whose light takes billions of years to hit Earth, and some old guy thousands of years ago saw some of them and thought 'You know. I think this will make for a great game of connect-the-dots'."

Emily laughed again.

"He clearly wasn't good at it. I mean what kind of lion looks like that?"

Emily sighed. "I dunno…"

Kaitlyn looked over at her. "You ok?"

"I-I'm fine." she responded

"You sure?"

"Mmmhmm." Emily tried collecting herself again.

The sun had set all the way and there were nothing but stars, the moon, plus the occasional cloud in the sky.

"It's too bad we're a little early."

"It's fine…"

"Yeah. The Perseid meteor shower doesn't happen for a few more weeks. Oh well. We might still see an occasional meteor. Especially on a clear night like this."

"Yeah." Emily brought her knees closer to her.

"Space is really cool."

"Mmm….hmmm.." Emily tried really hard to not let her emotions get the best of her.

" _Don't do it."_ She thought.

"Thank you, by the way."

"Y-Your welcome…" Her voice cracked.

"I don't have anyone to talk to about this stuff anymore… and you actually listen… You're a really great friend, ya know."

Emily quietly nodded, blinking her eyes.

Kaitlyn scootched over and gave Emily a hug.

She couldn't help but let the tears run down her cheeks as she sobbed.

"Shhh. It's ok." Kaitlyn hugged her a little tighter.

"I know…."

After a minute, Kaitlyn let go and moved back over, occasionally taking her eyes off the sky and looking at Emily, making sure she was alright. ((Brb lemme go cry my eyes out. lol jk i already did xDDDDDD ~Emily))

Emily sniffled before taking in a deep breath. ((I s2g this shit hits deep… ~Emily))

Kaitlyn sat up for a moment and took off the jacket she was wearing and draped it over Emily's shoulders after noticing how fast the temperature was dropping.

Emily looked over at her and smiled.

She smiled back and took an extra blanket from beside her, putting it over her own shoulders.

Emily cleared her throat, but never spoke.

"You want a snack? I brought some with me."

"Sure."

"Chips or cookies?" Kaitlyn shifted through the food in the cooler.

"Mmmmm… cookies."

She took out a package of cookies and opened it, handing a large cookie to Emily and keeping one for herself.

Emily took a bite of the cookie and smiled.

AFter a few more bites, they both finished the cookies, Kaitlyn having finished her's first. (She stuffed into her face.)

Emily leaned back again and looked at the sky.

"So I uh… I changed my mind…. I do have s-something to talk about."

"Oh. Well I'm all ears." Kaitlyn looked over at her.

"Well… ummm… I know this person… and uh…. I've known them for quite a while, three years actually! Three years, I can't believe it... Anyways… uh…. We're kinda just friends, you know, it's cool and stuff, but… I dunno, things are just really awkward right now…" Emily sat up.

"I just… don't know what to tell them…"

Kaitlyn propped herself up with her elbows. "Just tell them how you feel. Be honest with yourself and them."

"Well isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Yeah, haha." Emily nervously laughed.

She soon sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for being so awkward it's just… I dunno, ahhhh."

"Nothing's awkward."

"Ugh yes this is totally awkward, I'm making such a fool of myself!"

"I just, I dunno… I don't… know what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you, Emi."

"You sure? I just don't know…"

"I'm sure."

Emily sighed again.

She firmed up a little and tried to be less nervous in her talk.

"Look, I don't want to ruin our friendship, or make things awkward, or sour even…" She tried speaking in a bold tone, but failed.

"You're my best friend, dude. You can't make anything worse than it already is. My whole life is full of awkward. Just let it out. I'm here for you."

"Really? You won't mock me for this? Or runaway?"

"Nope. Never!" Kaitlyn shook her head.

"Well I think I kinda... Developed feelings for you.. I'm sorry…" ((I was actually able to go through Skype and find our old conversation where we said basically the same thing and used it for this scene cuz holy fuck is confessing your feelings to someone you're dating in RL hard… ~Emily))

Kaitlyn's smile faded for a moment then formed again but bigger. "It's ok. It's ok. You don't need to be sorry."

She started laughing, hysterically almost.

"Haha, you OK there? Did I.. uh… say something weird… Oh no… You're laughing because.. I'm a girl… and you… you're a giRL TOO! OH GOD!"

"No no no!" Kaitlyn managed to calm herself down. "It's just that… hehe… I don't know why, but I saw this coming."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah..."

Emily chuckled.

"You used to be such an asshole before. And even when you grew out of that… well I dunno… you were so particularly nice to me. Like a special nice. You're just such a sweetheart to me. And you have been for a while. I dunno. I could just tell…. Womanly instincts or some shit like that."

Emily chuckled again and moved her hand closer to Kaitlyn's.

"You've never kissed anyone, right?" Kaitlyn said softly after a long pause of silence.

"Ummm, no, I don't think so…."

"I never imagined that my first kiss would be some dumbass punk redhead. Always thought it'd be someone nicer… probably a brunette…. " Kaitlyn chuckled and looked Emily in the eyes. "What do you imagine your first kiss will be like?"

"I-I don't know…. I've never planned on kissing anyone."

"Ha. Me neither. Not until the millisecond I did. What a disappointment that was….." ((Someone get this woman some tea cuz damn some shade bein thrown! ~Emily)) ((I need tea cuz I already spilled all mine. *deal with it shades fly down onto my face as airhorns blast* ~Kait))

"Feel bad for you…."

"Don't worry about me. I'm sure it'll be made up someday"

"Yeah…"

There was a long pause as the two stared at the stars.

"You… um…." Kaitlyn spoke up.

"What?" Emily turned to her, confused.

"You don't mind… if umm… I'm your… you know… wow i'm bad at this..." Her face went pink.

Emily's eyes lit up. "Y-Y-Yes! Yes! I-I uh… never knew you uh.. Liked me back?"

Kaitlyn shrugged and tried to hide her cheeks but looked over at Emily with a smirk.

She chuckled.

Kaitlyn giggled back.

Emily finally reached over and took Kaitlyn's hand. In the process, her head got closer to her's. She leaned in closer.

"I'm glad this worked out…" She said.

"Me too."

Kaitlyn rolled over and placed her other hand behind Emily's neck, pulling her even closer.

She tried not to blush.

They both smiled, pressing their foreheads together.

Emily giggled.

Kaitlyn tilted her head and slowly touched her lips to Emily's.

It was a weird sensation, but Emily enjoyed it herself.

Kaitlyn stopped for a moment and exhaled with a smile.

Emily grinned from ear to ear.

Kaitlyn looked up towards the night sky.

"Woah! Oh my god! Quick! Look! Do you see that?"

"What?" Emily looked up

"There's a shooting star. Quick! Make a wish!"

"Haha, alright." Emily closed her eyes.

"OK I did it!"

She looked up again to see the star disappear into the dark.

"What'd you wish for?"

"I can't say, it'll ruin the wish…" ((*secretly writes this cuz the wish I have wouldn't make sense in the fics* ~Emily))

"I know… and it sucks." kaitlyn thought for a moment. "Maybe if you whisper it, the stars won't hear."

"ok." Emily said before whispering into Kaitlyn's ear.

Kaitlyn smiled and looked at Emily before giving her another kiss.

Emily snuggled up close to Kaitlyn. She put an arm around Emily and moved the extra blanket over so it covered the both of them.

"You know… the sky right now isn't nearly as pretty as your eyes…"

"Oh. You're exaggerating. How can anything ever be any more beautiful than this?"

Emily chuckled.

"Oh wait. Yeah. There's you."

Emily chuckled and kissed Kaitlyn in the cheek, then laid her head on her chest. (( _y E S_ ~Emily))

"I love you."

 _ **((END OF CHAPTER 14))**_


	15. Something To Believe In

" _Just give me something to believe in"_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Fifteen: Something To Believe In

Light fluttered through the open blinds and left stripes of shadow on the worn cherry hardwood floors below the bed and on the comforter. The ceiling fan spun on low, the blades chopping through the morning sunshine.

Emily slowly opened her eyes.

It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in her own room. Yet it still looked familiar. Her shirt felt different, too. It was soft but a size or two ( _probably three)_ too big.

She heard a heavy breath next to her.

She was in Kaitlyn's room. In bed. Next to her.

She looked over to see a head of scraggly blonde curls and the back of a loose t-shirt. She watched Kaitlyn's shoulders move as she breathed rhythmically. A soft inhale and a long breath out.

With a smile, she reached over and draped her arm over Kaitlyn's waist, pulling herself to the warm body and nuzzling her face between its shoulder blades.

Kaitlyn laid her hand over Emily's.

"Good morning." She whispered.

"Good morning." Emily mumbled back with a happy sigh.

Kaitlyn rolled over and put her arms around Emily.

Emily blushed as Kaitlyn leaned in and pecked a kiss on her lips.

"So uhhh… what happened last night?"

"Oh nothing really. I just had to carry you back to the car and drive all the way back here at 1 in the morning. Then, somehow, I managed to wake you up enough for you to walk inside and change into the pajamas I gave you. Then we cuddled and fell asleep. "

"Oh, It was all such a haze, must've forgotten…"

Kaitlyn smiled and hummed before giving Emily another kiss.

"Haha, geez, we start dating one night and you're already all over me…"

"Haha. Well you're just so cute I can't help it."

"I highly doubt that, but whatever…"

"Hey you know… I had the weirdest dream last night, and I wonder… how's Atom doing?"

"Yeah. I've been wondering, too."

Atom walked up the stairs to the dining room and put his phone down.

"Hmmm, feel like I'm forgetting something?" He thought out loud.

"Oh yeah, gotta take dumb pills."

He got up and walked into the kitchen with the same face that showed his inner struggles. He tried not to let anyone know he was still in pain because he didn't want people worrying.

The thought of having to explain himself to others didn't seem so easy.

Atom opened the medicine cabinet and looked around for his pills, it was a small, orange bottle with a label covered in large print words.

"What a day to be alive." He said to himself sarcastically, taking a pill out and putting the bottle back.

He grabbed a cup and walked to the fridge to fill it with water, then sat back down in his seat and swallowed the pill.

He sighed.

He looked over at his phone and pushed it away from him.

Astro proudly walked out of the hallway with swagger, sitting in front of Atom at the table.

"Sup pipsqueak? Got your ass in a knot?" He asked.

"No...no...i-I'm fine…." Atom replied.

"Good because that would really hurt." Astro laughed.

Atom got up and left the dining room table, leaving his phone behind.

"Hey ass rot you left your phone behind!" Astro called out.

"Shut up." Atom walked down the stairs in sadness.

Astro rolled his eyes, getting up from his seat to open the freezer side of the fridge, pulling out an ice cream sandwich to consume.

"Ew! This ice cream sandwich takes so bad. What the fuck, Walmurt?" Astro shoved the sandwich back in the freezer.

"Why would Dad buy this?! I thought he didn't trust Good Value. YUCK!"

Minutes later, Tenma came into the kitchen.

"Dad why the fuck did you buy this piece of shit?"

"Buy what?" Tenma walked up to Astro

"This piece of fucking shit." He pulled out the ice cream sandwich.

"Oh. That? I didn't buy that."

He looked into the freezer at the box and pulled it out.

"Good Value? Yeah that definitely wasn't me. Oh god, they're really old too. Did you find this at the back of the freezer?"

"Yeah, I was hungry."

"Well this is going in the trash."

"Do you even keep up with who goes shopping?"

"Yes. Of course. Although, there's always _something_ that gets lost in the back."

"Guess so." Astro shrugged.

Atom walked back up the steps again.

"Hey look it's pipsqueak ass rot again!" Astro exclaimed.

Atom sniffled and grabbed his phone.

"Is something wrong, Atom?" Tenma looked over as he threw the box of ice cream sandwiches in the trash.

Atom walked away and headed for the stairs.

"Oooo, that's cold…" Astro commented.

"Shut it..."

"Shut what?"

"Your mouth."

"Pffffft." Astro sat down and folded his arms.

Tenma walked down the stairs to catch up with Atom while Astro walked back to his room.

He sat down by his desk and sighed.

 _Hey there_

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!"

 _Miss me?_

"Well no, you've been gone for a year, not a big deal in my books." Astro turned his laptop on.

 _Hey now. Don't be like that. You wouldn't greet an old pal like that, would you?_

" ' _Old pal_ ''? Don't think you're that old…"

 _Oh, cut the sass._

"Pffft, I'm only fucking with you, dipshit." Astro looked down with a pouty face.

 _Well, don't mind me then, I'll just be taking a nice ol' shit over in the corner._

"Mmmm great, don't get it all over yourself like last time."

 _How's that lil' plan of your's going? Hmm?_

"What plan? Oh you mean that shit we never finished?"

 _Sure, whatever you want to call it._

"Nah man, my rebel days are behind me, still an asshole, just not _that_ kinda asshole…"

 _Looks like you've changed quite a bit, haven't you? You're… softer…. weaker…._

"Ummmm, no I think it's the same size…."

 _Hahahahaha! Not that, you imbecile._

"Mmmmmhmmmm, you know it's too early in the morning for you to ridicule me…"

 _I'm only speaking the truth._

Astro sighed. "Don't worry, I got you, I'll keep masturbating more often, you're welcome…"

 _Sigh…. It's no use right now, is it? I'll leave you be for now… What an idiot._

"What? Can you speak proper English please?"

 _Oh wow. You're even more of a dick then before, guess not everything changed for the worst!_

Astro sighed.

"Look, I'm not in the mood right now to hear your bullshit, I got shit to do whether you like it or not so you either shut your fat trap or I dunno, go fuck yourself or something?!"

 _Fine. I'll leave you alone. Just don't forget, I'm always here. Watching you. Reading your thoughts. Telling you what to do._

"Ooooooo scary!" Astro sarcastically said, waving his hands.

He fished around his desk for his pen tablet when he heard footsteps approaching.

 _Way to go dumbass, someone heard your fat mouth talking._

"Shut up." Astro muttered.

The door opened.

"Astro? Who are you talking to?" Cindy asked.

"Uhhhhhhh." Astro froze.

 _Shhhh. Don't say shit._

"I was uh talking to this uh thing up in-"

 _I SAID, DON'T SAY SHIT._

"I mean uh- just being a dumbass psycho as usual, haha…" Astro nervously chuckled.

"Ok?..." She looked at him like he was crazy.

Astro forced a smile.

"Well, uh… Try being a little quieter. I don't want the baby to wake up too early."

"Uhhhh, yes! Yes, yes, don't wanna wake the devil from its slumber, ha…"

Cindy closed the door and left.

"I swear to god I'm getting rid of you the next chance I have!"

He whispered angrily.

 _Hahaha. Good luck with that._

"Oh I will, have fun jerking off to that!"

 _Sure… Keep telling yourself that._

"It's only the truth…"

 _Try me, bitch._

"I would but you're in my head, which trust me is a good thing."

There was no response.

"Pfft, bitch left because he was too thirsty." Astro turned his pen tablet around. ((Astro omfg if you don't stop making perverted jokes I swear on my mother's grave… ~Emily)) ((Your mom's not dead tho…~Kait)) ((don't matter ~Emily)) ((wow. K then o-o ~Kait))

((This chapter sucks and I'm sorry we just really suck at filler, everything needs plot and meaning and this has none of it xDDDDD ~Emily))

Later that day, Astro heard someone trying to get his attention.

 _Pst. PSTTTT! HEY KNUCKLEHEAD!_

"What, asshole?"

 _You still busy, or can I torture you again now?_

"I'm always busy…"

 _I'll take that as a yes to torturing you then_

.

"Sure, knock yourself out."

 _You really are pathetic, aren't you?_

"Hmmmm I dunno, how 'bout you huh?"

 _Oh no, I'm quite happy, actually._

"Great, so you can fuck yourself without shame."

 _Why yes I can. And you?_

"Hmmmm… Yeah…"

 _I bet that lady… what is her name again? Barbie? I bet she really thinks you're batshit crazy hahaha._

"You mean Brianna, nah man, she's thirsty like the Sahara Desert."

 _I'm talking about that woman that walked in here earlier, you fucking moron. Who else do you call Barbie? Are your IQ points dropping by one every minute you're still alive?_

"Ew no, I'm not into that shit the fuck?"

 _No not like that you perverted cocksucker. I mean she's probably thinking right now, 'I really gotta send that kid to the psych ward. He's nuts'._

"No I think that's just you and your big fat mouth letting your dick do the talking."

 _Nah she looked pretty freaked out. Hahaha. I love making you look psychotic!_

"I thought you wanted this under wraps, now you wanna make me look crazy, seesh man, gotta make up your mind!"

 _Who ever said this was 'under wraps'?_

"Ummm, I think you did, I dunno, uhhhhhhh…."

 _Hahaha. Wow! I leave you for… how long? A little more than a year? And you get this stupid? Ha! I shoulda left earlier!_

"So what are you gonna do? _Punish me_ _for it_?"

 _Sounds like a good idea actually._

"I'm ready whenever you are…"

 _Hmmmm. What should we do this time? Convince you to jump out your window? Oh wait no we're on the first floor, that would do nothing._

"Oh, we're going _that_ route…" A hint of disappointment in Astro's voice.

 _Ah. I see. You want something worse?_

"Maybe…" He bit his lip.

 _Hm. I'll have to think of something you_ don't _like this time…._

"Good luck with that." Astro chuckled. ((JESUS FUCKING CHRIST ASTRO CHILL YOU PERVERT ~A laughing Emily adding this note weeks after writing this chapter and realizing it's really my fault since I'm writing Astro's lines))

He got up from his chair and walked over to his closet, pulling out a jacket.

"Sheesh, when did it get so fucking freezing in here." Astro walked back to his desk in annoyance.

A moment of silence was in the air before Astro grabbed his stylus again.

"You know…" Astro smirked.

"You're always trying to 1-up me, but I think we know who calls the shots…"

"Still thinking huh?"

Astro sighed.

"Look, it's nice of you to stop by and say hello, but it's not your fault okay?"

"I never wanted things to get to complicated with myself and yet here I am having to explain the weirdest thing to others, almost like some justification for my weirdness…."

"But it's not your fault." Astro blushed. "It never was."

 _What the hell are you talking about?_

"You don't… Know?"

 _Yeah, yeah. I know about your whole 'narcissism problem'. But what does that have to do with anything? I'm just here to make your life worse. I'm a figment of your mind whose sole purpose is to dig into your fears and depression and make you turn on yourself._

"You just don't understand the struggle…"

 _You're really gross, buddy. F.Y.I. I'm not even remotely real. Your circuits are outta whack and I'm_ one _of the results._

Astro chuckled. "And your point is?" He smiled.

 _One, you're crazy. Two, whatever_ thing _you have for me is only your insanity getting worse._

"Oh, so this is a one-sided thing? Thought for sure you joined the bandwagon…"

 _I'm not here to have a playdate with you, idiot._

"You just don't wanna admit it huh? Fine by me I suppose.." Astro chuckled again.

 _Sure, kid, sure._

"Names Astro, dipshit."

 _No shit._

Astro tried not to break out into laughter.

"So you don't feel… Bad about it? Like… It's your fault-because it's not but uh…. You never know?"

 _I do not posses the ability to express or feel 'emotions'._

"Hmmm sure… Keep telling yourself that."

… _. Your dick is small….._

"Doesn't mean I don't know how to use it."

 _Damn. Thought I could get ya with that one. Nevermind that. I'll be on my way again. Peace._

"Sure, don't let the door hit ya on the way out.."

"Hmmmm." Astro turned around. "Wonder what happened to ass rot?"


	16. Forget

" _I'm gonna leave the past behind. I've had enough, I'm breaking free. No pressing stop, erase, rewind. That chain of thought that followed me."_

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Sixteen: Forget

It was the next day after Astro's encounter with Conscience. Atom was lying on his side, hidden under bedsheets with tired eyes.

He moaned and rubbed his eye, blinking afterwards.

Atom knew he had to get out of bed, regardless of how tired he was.

He pulled the sheets off and slowly inched out of bed.

Upstairs, Astro was at the dinner table eating crackers, picking them up one-by-one out of the bowl he had poured them into.

A faint sound of music could be heard from the basement.

It took Atom a while to make it to the door, but by then he seemed to be well enough to go at an easy pace out of the room and up the stairs.

He finally got upstairs, closing the basement door behind him. At this point the music was much louder and easier to distinguish.

"Are you listening to vaporwave?" Atom asked.

Astro turned around. "Shit, what?"

"VAPOR-WAVE!" Atom cupped his hands around his mouth and sound it out for Astro.

"Oh yeah, it's the new aesthetic. Gotta get with the times, pipsqueak." Astro replied.

"Pfft, I _am_ with the times." Atom brushed off Astro's remark and walked into the kitchen.

Yet again, as if the routine _never_ got old, Atom opened the same old medicine cabinet, pulled out the same old pills, and got yet another cup to fill with water.

Astro was left in his own world while the music filled the air, covering the awkward silence.

Atom never spoke, he even left without speaking after putting his pills away, taking his cup of water with him.

No one seemed to mind.

Atom sat alone on his bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling numb.

"You can fight this." he said.

"Just gotta… keep pushing, like they tell you."

Atom sat up.

"Be a good machine, they say." He began.

"Just don't think about they say."

"It'll all be over, they say."

"It's just a phase, they say."

Atom sighed angrily.

"Don't yell at me, they say."

"I'm the adult and you _listen to me_ , they say."

"...People say a lot of things don't they?"

Atom sighed again, this time with more sadness than anger.

"I just wanted to stand up for myself!"

"I-I-I can't just _let_ you call me those things?!"

"I'M NOT A MONSTER! I'm not a f-f-fa-f-"

"I'm not what you said I was."

"F-slurs cross the line…"

"And you wouldn't let me tell you that was wrong! I-I only wanted to help, you know, 'hey that's not right, maybe you shouldn't say that?' I couldn't say that, could I?"

"You just… wanna be the bigger man, and I get that, I'm OK with that, be the big man all you want."

"But just please…" Atom brought his knees up to his chest.

"... d _on't call me that."_

He felt tears roll down his cheeks before breaking down.

"I just… I… I never meant for this to spiral!"

He stopped before things got worse and took a deep breath, grabbing for his cup of water.

He thought it over for a moment.

"No no, I can't think right now, I need to get this out, not keep it in."

"Sure, it hurt. Hurt a lot actually…"

"But…. it… it unfolded something…"

"This whole time I've been scared and stressed over what? Myself? Others?"

"Okay… so I uh… _fucked Kaitlyn over_ , not _that_ bad, could have been worse."

"I've run away like two or three times, again, not as bad as it looks…"

"But… I stood up for myself."

"... This whole time I've stood up for myself, I-I made my voice be heard!"

"And sure, finding out I had anxiety wasn't fun, but it did answer what I couldn't answer myself… and at the end of the day, I don't think I would have it any other way…"

"I feel like I've changed for the better, and there's nothing wrong with change, and there's nothing wrong with stating your thoughts, and there's nothing wrong with putting yourself first… _sometimes_."

"The point is you liveandyougrowidunnoanymoreha… i'm so lame." Atom rubbed his forehead and chuckled.

"You know… maybe… maybe it's time they knew… maybe if they knew, things will get better."

"Hmm…." Atom got up and left his room.

He walked up the stairs and back to where he was earlier, this time around, Astro was gone, no music was playing, and everything was quiet.

Atom quickly looked around to see if he spotted anyone, as he suspected, no one was there. He continued his walk around the house.

He finally made it to the door and knocked on it.

"Uh… anyone in there? I-I… I think I'm ready to talk."

Atom waited patiently on the chair in the living room as Tenma and Cindy made sure the baby was asleep. A few moments later, they walked into the room and sat next to each other on the couch.

"Errrm… well um…" Atom scratched the back of his head.

"Do I start from the beginning or…?"

"Start wherever you're comfortable from starting." Cindy said with a reassuring nod.

"Okay, well um… I don't uh, know the day exactly -I have terrible memory- but ummm… it was a day, a morning actually…"

"I was uhhh… getting out of bed, as you usually do everyday, left the room, walked out into the hallway, and you uh, know, from like the hallway, you can see the kitchen, right?"

"Well anyways, I walk out of the he hallway, and I hear someone talking. It's just me, Uran and the professor, so I dunno who was on the phone this early in the morning, but apparently the professor was."

"I kinda got a _little_ closer, but not too close, don't wanna look nosy, and I see he's on the phone, okay fine, great, no problem!"

"But then I got even nosier and started listening to his conversation."

" _What's the difference between a gay man and a freezer? Freezer doesn't fart when you pull the meat out! HAHAHA!"_

" _Oh wait wait, I got a better one. 'That was so gay it gave me AIDS'"_

"At that point I just, I dunno… I was confused I guess…" Atom shrugged.

"But then I just- I got this sudden urge to say something, like I just needed to speak up! And… I did…"

"I kinda waited it out a bit to see if he would get off the phone before I talked to him."

" _Ummm… professor?"_

" _What?"_

" _I uh… heard what you were saying… over the phone… and maybe… maybe you shouldn't be making jokes like that, they're really offensive."_

" _How dare you eavesdrop! That conversation was none of your business!"_

" _I-I didn't mean to! I just heard it on my way out!"_

" _That doesn't matter anymore. You can't tell me what to or not to say. You hear me?!"_

" _N-n-NO! That was really wrong okay?! You can't just keep making really bad jokes thinking they're funny?! They really hurt my feelings and I'm sure others would be hurt too if they heard the same thing!"_

" _What do you care, you little_ faggot _?!"_

Atom tried his hardest to not let the tears get the best of him.

"That was…. The end for me, the last straw… after he said that, my whole world had collapsed, no one, _no one_ had said that to me, and I never knew how bad it hurt until then…"

" _ARGH STOP THAT IT HURTS!"_

" _Aw. Isn't that sad… I don't give a fuck, Atom!"_

"I-I… I tried really hard not to cry."

" _W-w-WELL YOU SHOULD!"_

" _Hmmm, alright then, outside."_

" _What?"_

" _You heard me, outside, for the day, sit."_

"And so I sat outside, and it kinda just went into a downwards spiral from there…" He wiped a tear from his eye.

Tenma and Cindy sat there, still and speechless.

"Kaitlyn came over and we left for lunch, I obviously got busted for that… then I chilled at her place for a while, went back home… and, you know the rest…"

"For a moment I thought.. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, not say anything… but, I kinda thought it over, and… I don't think I would have it any other way."

"... I'm sorry if this is boring for you I just…. I had to get this out someday…."

"No. No. It's not boring. I'm really proud you told us this." Tenma had a caring grin on his face.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

Atom chuckled. He got up from his seat and walked over to Tenma and Cindy, giving them both a big hug.

"But umm… what I really wanted to say was… It was nice being here, I really liked it, but ummm… I don't really know if i'm staying here, what if I have to go back against my own will? Or… what if this problem never resolves, what am I gonna do?"

"We won't let that happen. We'll make sure Elefun never hurts you like that again." Cindy put her hand on Atom's shoulder.

"Thank you." He smiled.

She smiled back.

Atom sighed. "Oh geez… wait until I have to tell this to Stephen… which do you think is better, call or in person? Or maybe text? Hmmm… text sounds the easiest…"

"Do you feel any better?"

"Hmmm… yeah, for the most part at least, still gonna be a while, but I'm willing to wait this time around… You guys were right, though, talking about it and letting it out did help!"

Atom smiled again, then took his phone out of his pocket.

"I should ask Stephen if he wants to talk about it right now, just in case my emotions get the better of me again." He typed a few words into the digital keyboard.

"Oh…."

"What's wrong?" Tenma saw the bright smile on Atom's face fade.

"Uh. Nothing... Nothing. It's all good." Atom faked a smile.

He got up from the couch and headed for the basement.

Emily was lying in bed, trying to fall back asleep. She heard the door open and turned to her other side.

"Go away Danny."

"Do I look like a _Danny_ to you?"

"I dunno, bye."

"Wow."

Emily grabbed even more bedsheets and curled into a ball.

Kaitlyn chuckled and sighed, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge.

Emily took in a deep breath.

Kaitlyn looked back to make sure the door was closed before giving Emily a kiss on the forehead.

"Hmm? Kaitlyn?" Emily tried lifting her tired head up.

Kaitlyn smiled, moving a strand of hair out of Emily's face.

"What's up?" Emily asked.

"Nothin' much." Kaitlyn responded with a shrug.

"Okay…"

Emily sat up.

"Hey… you know… I tried texting Atom yesterday, and he never responded…"

"Oh."

"Wonder what's up with him…."

Kaitlyn sighed.

"You OK?" Emily asked.

"Uh. Yeah… I guess."

"Oh… well, maybe you should go see him! Figure out what's up!" Emily tried to encourage Kaitlyn.

"Oh no no no no noooooo."

"Well why not? I'm sure he'd love to see you!"

"HA! Sure! He probably still hates my guts, Emi. I don't blame him. I hate my own guts, too."

"Atom, hate _you_? That's impossible! He's probably gotten over it already, I mean it's been a month, I don't think he could hold a grudge _that_ long…"

"I did some fucked up shit, man. I hurt his feelings. If I were him, I'd never want to talk to me again."

"Oh and like _he_ hasn't… I'm sure if you just talked to him, you guys could sort it out…"

"I don't know…. I doubt it."

"Come on Kaitlyn, for me?"

"I can't."

"... Fine." Emily lied back down.

Atom sat on his bed, his phone not to far from him.

"She probably doesn't even wanna talk to me…." He thought aloud.

"After all that I put her through…. I wouldn't even wanna talk to myself…" He sighed.

"But I have to do this… It may be hard, but I gotta push through." Atom reached for his phone. "Even if she never answers…"

Emily ignored Kaitlyn the whole time, Kaitlyn soon realizing this sat on the desk chair, leaving her alone.

A few moments later, the sound of a phone ringing was heard.

Kaitlyn ignored it, resting her head on the desk.

Atom stared at the ceiling as he waited for Kaitlyn to potentially pick up.

A few moments later he heard Kaitlyn's voice, but realized it was only a voicemail.

He sighed as he put his phone down.

"Guess she doesn't wanna talk… I knew it."

"I deserve this anyways…" Atom brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them.

"Why didn't you answer?" Emily asked Kaitlyn from under her sheets.

"Probably just a telemarketer or my Aunt… didn't even look."

"Pfft… I always look when I get a call."

"What's the point?… No one important ever calls me..."

"I dunno. I'm just gonna go back to sleep."

Kaitlyn looked around the desk for a moment before getting up and laying in the bed behind Emily, putting her arms around her and nuzzling her nose in the nape of Emily's neck. She sniffled and tried her best to just fall asleep too.

Emily opened her eyes, seeing as it usually took her a while to sleep, especially after already being asleep for some time.

She tried closing her eyes again, but ended up staring at the wall for a while.

She heard the sniffling behind her and an arm tightening around her.

"Ow! Kaitlyn, you're gonna crush me…"

"I'm sorry..." Kaitlyn loosened her grip, sighing.

Emily sighed back and closed her eyes.

She heard Kaitlyn beginning to sob behind her.

"You OK?" Emily asked.

"I don't know..." She struggled to stop crying.

"Well you let me know when you figure it out…."

Kaitlyn sat up.

"I.. I'm gonna go to the bathroom…." She got off the bed and walked out of the room.

"Alright." Emily got even more comfy in bed.

"No no, you can't call now, you'll look desperate… maybe i'll try again next year… hopefully she won't remember me calling her then…" Atom lied down.

"Or maybe two years… just to be safe."

"YO PIPSQUEAK!" Astro stormed into Atom's room.

Atom gasped, "WHAT, WHAT IS IT?!" He freaked.

"Oh nothing, just walked in for no reason." Astro shrugged.

"Well geez… almost had me panicking…."

"Pffft… sure." Astro chuckled.

"It's not funny…" Atom muttered.

"Hmmm, whatever, I have no business being here anyways…" Astro turned around and left the room.

Atom sighed.

"Oh. And Citizen said lunch will be ready soon. So yeah. Bye." Astro stuck his head back into the room for a second before finally walking upstairs.

Atom got up and closed his door all the way.

He crawled back into bed and curled up into a ball.

"Maybe i'll sleep long enough for things to fix themselves." He thought, closing his eyes.

About an hour had passed and Astro was sitting at the kitchen table as usual. Tenma sat across from him, reading a book and sipping a cup of coffee.

"Did you tell Atom there'd be food?" Tenma noticed a sandwich and chips were still sitting on a plate on the counter.

"I dunno, did I?" Astro asked sarcastically, looking off into the distance.

"Astro… I told you to tell Atom about lunch an hour ago..."

"…That was sarcasm…"

"So you did?"

"Uh…sureee…" Astro shook his head with a "I don't even know anymore" look on his face.

Tenma sighed and got up from his seat.

"Be careful, almost ratted me out for screaming…" Astro replied, as if knowing he was going to see Atom.

He slowly shook his head and continued past Astro to the basement door.

Astro followed him out the door and saw the basement door was open.

"Knew it!" He snapped his fingers.

Atom still lied on his side, curled up into a ball, hoping the more he slept the faster he could get to have all his problems solved.

"Atom?" Tenma walked up and shook Atom's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up.

"I'm sleeping to avoid my problems, come back later…." Atom turned to his other side.

"There's lunch upstairs for you."

"Well if all goes well, it should finish itself…."

"I made your favorite sandwich..."

"Even better…"

"There's chips too."

"Great, they can finish themselves too."

"If there's something wrong, you can tell me."

"I already told you…. If I sleep long enough, everything will solve itself."

"It won't work."

"Well, never too late to try." Atom sat up to fluff up his pillow.

"Have you tried talking to Kaitlyn lately?"

"Oh, she never answered so i'm waiting 2 years to call her again, hopefully she won't remember so I don't look desperate."

"2 years might be a little too long."

"No, I think 2 years is good enough, she can't possibly remember me calling her by then…"

"Well, I can't stop you. Just promise me you'll eat your sandwich. I don't want you to go without eating. It's important."

"Ughhh. It'll eat itself, just gotta sleep long enough…"

Tenma sighed then left the room.

Atom finally closed his eyes and got cozy in bed.

"And I'll take the Caesar Salad." Kaitlyn handed their menus to the waitress before she walked away with a smile.

After Emily decided to get out of bed, Kaitlyn told her she came over to take Emily out for lunch, so they both got in her car and drove off the the usual old diner.

Emily tapped her fingers together, looking down at the table with a

sad, embarrassed face.

Kaitlyn took a sip of her drink.

"Looks like they've been getting more business here..." Kaitlyn interrupted the silence as she looked around at the tables of people.

Emily put her hands down. "Yeah." she looked up.

"So… uh…."

"Hmmmm?"

"Um… I… I don't know…."

"Okay…" Emily went back to tapping her fingers.

Kaitlyn chuckled a bit.

Emily looked up, confused.

"We've know each other for years and we're acting as awkward as two 12 year olds going on their first date, being driven in the back of one of their parent's cars?"

"Hahaha, I guess…"

"Yeah..."

After a while of sitting and little talk, things seemed to get boring.

Kaitlyn looked down at her salad and moved the pieces of lettuce around with her fork.

Emily sighed and played around with her food as well.

Kaitlyn's phone rang again, and once more, she completely ignored her phone.

"Ummm, Kaitlyn… you're uh….. Phone?"

She sighed and kept picking at her salad.

"Okay, nevermind then…"

A few moments after the phone stopped ringing, her phone went off as well.

"Well, what a coincidence." Emily picked up her phone. "Hello?"

" _Hello, Emily."_

"Ummmm, I think you have the wrong number… who is this again?"

" _It's Poopy McPoop face."_

"Yeah… I don't know anyone with that name, I think you have the wrong number, are you trying to call my mom? Does the name 'Ivan' ring a bell?"

" _Haha. No. It's Tenma."_

"Oh, it's _you_ … Ummm… I'm not _supposed_ to talk to you, but I'm on a date so my mom's rules don't apply."

"...Don't tell her you called…."

" _I won't."_

"Great. So what'd ya call for?"

" _Just wanted to know how you and Kaitlyn were doing. Have you seen her lately?"_

"Oh." Emily looked at Kaitlyn. "She's… beau- I mean, alive…"

" _Well… that's good to know."_

"Yuuuuuuup." Emily grabbed her drink and quickly sipped.

" _You two should come by and visit the family soon... More specifically, Atom. He's been pretty lonely recently."_

"Oh- for real? Uhhh…. I dunno, wish I could, but I can't drive, _yet_."

" _Can't Kaitlyn drive you?"_

"Oh….. I can't drive… _yet_ , workin' on it okay?!"

" _But Kaitlyn can, can't she? She didn't get her legs cut off, did she?"_

Emily froze, if only 'kdnfjewhoasjdjebgdfjksakijjskdee' was something she could actually say over the phone.

"... Still workin on it… just need to sign up for driver's ED online…"

" _You're starting to make it sound like Kaitlyn_ isn't _alive."_

"Um no, she's alive! Uh…. _It's me you need to worry about_."

" _Why….? Are you ok?"_

"I can't drive….. She won't drive, no one drives, we're just all one time ticking bomb waiting to go off….."

" _What the hel-..._ heck _… are you talking about?"_

"No one wants to drive… I'm miserable, my mom's gonna murder me, i'm dating a woman… my life is a mess…."

There was a few moments of complete silence on both ends.

"Ok, ok, i'll be real here, no more philosophical bullshit." Emily sighed.

"Kaitlyn doesn't wanna do anything… she just wants to sit around and do nothing, which is fine, like I really got places to go, but I don't think she really wants to see er…. Thatpersonyoumentioned."

" _Sounds like we're both in a similar predicament."_

"Hmmm… interesting…."

"So is that it, can I go back to living my shitty life now?"

" _Sure. Although, I'll be texting you later. It sounds like you're a tad busy at the moment and I have an idea that should fix both of our problems… not all of them… just this problem… you know what I mean, right?"_

"Oh yeah, I'm on a date, oh wait, SHIT I'M ON A DATE AND I'M MAKING A FOOL OF MYSELF?!"

"Umm, I'm sorry bruh, but I gotta let you go before Kaitlyn dumps my ass for not being a decent human being."

" _Oh. So you two are in a relati-"_

Emily pressed the "End Call" button on her P-phone.

"I-I-I'm sorry Kaitlyn! I was on the phone and like completely forgot we were on a date!" she quickly apologized.

"It's ok." Kaitlyn looked up at Emily with a faint smile.

"Phew! Glad that's over, hate talking to people on the phone…"

"You know… I should be the one saying sorry. I'm the one getting tears on my croutons…."

"What? Nonononono, Kaitlyn, it's okay, I'm not mad at you."

"But… I've just been so miserable lately… I don't know why…. I should be happy! I'm here with you right now and I should be so happy about this… but I'm not..."

Emily sighed. "I-I don't know…"

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, I forgive you." Emily smiled, reaching over to hold Kaitlyn's hand.

Kaitlyn smiled back and gave Emily's hand a gentle squeeze.

A few days later, Tenma walked back into Atom's room, seeing he was still in bed wearing the same clothes he did just days ago.

"Atom?" he asked.

"Still sleeping to avoid my problems, come back next millennium." Atom piled a few pillows on top of his head.

"You can't stay in here forever..."

"Next millennium please… or maybe even two, I dunno."

"Come on, Atom."

"Okay, a millennium and a half, is that better?

"Atom… I want to take you out to lunch today. You can't go wearing that…. Those clothes are old. That's something Astro does. That doesn't mean it's a good thing." ((Tenma: The kinda dad to call his son out in other people's conversations…. ~Emily))

"Does it really matter, not like _she_ cares…" Atom pulled the sheets up closer to himself.

"I'm sure she does..."

Atom sighed. "I highly doubt that."

"You need to eat something, let's go." Tenma walked up to the bed and pulled up the sheets.

Atom sighed again. "Why are humans so stubborn?" He slowly got out of bed and left his room.

"At least change your clothes..." Tenma called after him.

"Alright." He walked up the stairs.

"Whatcha up to?" Atom asked Astro who was at the table setting up a few things.

"Streaming dumb dumb, hopefully this time no one shows up just to see your ugly ass."

"Ummm….. I'm gonna pretend you know the full extent of what you just said, and be productive…."

A while later, Atom opened the door to the back seat and sat down by the car window.

A few minutes passed before Tenma opened the front door to the house, seeing Atom in the car, of all places.

"Well this is unexpected." Tenma smiled as he got into the car.

Atom gave a thumbs up and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

"Hey. Uh. You have the keys, right?"

"Keys? You need keys for this car?"

"Yeah. All cars need keys. But you don't have them? How did you get in?"

"Oh, you didn't open the door for me?"

"No? Goddamit. It was Astro."

"Ahhh, no need to roast him, I think I've burnt him enough, don't want to turn him into charcoal."

Tenma chuckled before getting out of the car and walking back into the house to get the keys.

"YO CITIZENS BACK!" Astro called out.

"My chat doesn't like you, but it's cool…." He continued.

"Lock the car next time." Tenma grabbed the keys and walked back outside.

"Whadda mean? I always lock the car! Don't I lock the car chat? You see, my chat agrees… Oh. He's gone…. No?! Who said 'No'?!…. I swear to god if this stream goes to shit i'm killing myself…"

Kaitlyn and Emily were in the car again, driving.

"Feels like just yesterday we passed by these streets." Emily looked out the window.

"It _was_ just a couple of days ago, silly..."

"Oh, haha, right…" Emily chuckled.

"I'm glad you want to go back, though. I'm really sorry our last date went so badly..."

"It's fine, I kinda ruined it too, it was both our faults…"

"Yeah…. It was more my fault tho."

"No no, we're splitting the blame even."

"Fine."

"Yuuuup."

"It'll be better this time, I promise."

"Mmmhmm." Emily nodded with a smile.

"So where are we going?" Atom asked from the back seat.

"Cindy told me that you seem to really like it at this restaurant you went to with her and some of your friends before. So we're going there." Tenma smiled.

"Oh…sounds promising."

"It looks like we're almost there, too." Tenma pointed to the park as they passed by it.

"Oh yeah, there's the park."

"You ordering anything different this time?" Kaitlyn asked Emily, looking up from her menu.

"Hmmm… probably not." She looked up at Kaitlyn before looking down at her phone quickly.

"Hey um… do you mind sitting next to me? It's kinda cold…"

"No. I'll sit next to you." Kaitlyn smiled and got up from her seat, moving next to Emily in the cozy booth seat.

"Thanks." Emily looked over at her.

She leaned in to give Emily a kiss but stopped in her tracks when she heard footsteps close behind her.

"Oh! Look who it is! Funny we'd meet you two here!" Tenma walked up the the table, winking at Emily like the bad actor he is.

"Uh, yeah! Haha, what a coincidence!" Emily exclaimed.

When Atom finally saw Kaitlyn sitting next to her, he got a sudden sick feeling in his stomach and slight anxiousness.

She averted her eyes the second she noticed he was looking at her.

Atom picked at his sleeves to take his mind off the fact that she was there.

"How about we sit with you?" Tenma asked friendlily.

"Ummm, sure, we got room."

Atom and him sat in the booth across from Emily and Kaitlyn and asked the waiter for two more menus.

Atom continued to pick at his sleeve, avoiding everyone, trying not to panic.

"A-are you okay Atom? You look like you're freaking out." Emily set her phone down on the table.

Atom ignored her and managed to rip the button off his sleeve.

"Ah. So how have you two been?" Tenma tried to start a conversation with Kaitlyn and Emily.

"Great! Right Kaitlyn?"

"Uh. Yeah. Sure." Kaitlyn's voice was muffled by the menu in front of her face.

"I-I-I-I be back…." Atom slowly got up and walked away to the bathroom, shaking.

"Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure… Probably not..." Tenma looked back as Atom walked away

Emily sighed.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea?"

"AH-HA!" Kaitlyn slammed down her menu.

"I knew this wasn't some ' _coincidence_ '! You guys set this up behind my back! I… I have to go pee!" She got up and walked quickly to the bathroom.

"Okay…..?"

Kaitlyn walked into the woman's restroom and over to the sinks, turning one of the knobs and watching the water pour out of the faucet and hit the sink.

"Ok. You gotta stop being weird, Kaitlyn. You're an adult now… Almost… Still a few more days… then you'll be an adult… Keep yourself together and work it all out..." She said quietly to herself as she took her glasses off and splashed some of the water onto her face.

She dried off and put her glasses back on.

She noticed in the mirror that someone was standing next to her

"Atom?"

Atom looked freaked out of his mind, as if he was trying super hard not to panic.

He looked over and saw Kaitlyn, gasping after realizing where he was.

"Why the fuck are you in the girl's room?"

Atom shook, shaking his head and slowly backing away.

"Hey. Hey. Calm down. It's ok." She took a step towards him.

Tears streamed down Atom's face, he stopped moving.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I-I-..." He couldn't make words.

"Oh my god. Why am I even asking. Of course I know what's wrong. What's wrong with me?"

Atom took in a deep breath and picked at his sleeve again.

"I'm sorry..."

Atom looked up at her with watery eyes, if only he could tell her how sorry he was.

Kaitlyn saw him shake a little more.

She walked up to him and held him in her arms.

Atom completely let himself go and hyperventilated in her arms.

She rubbed his back and tried her best to comfort him.

Atom stopped himself in his tracks and took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"I am so so sorry."

"No no, it's okay, it's not your fault." Atom notioned.

"No. All of this is my fault. From the very start this has been my fault."

"No it's not, if anything it's _my_ fault."

"No. It's mine."

Atom sighed.

"Kaitlyn, its not your fault… and even if it was, that's okay, you're a human being, humans aren't perfect, and I don't expect you to be perfect either, what you did may not seem like a good thing, but I've developed, you've developed, we live and we learn, and that's what matters…"

"I don't care what you did at this point, I forgive you."

"You do?"

"Mmmhmm." Atom nodded.

"Thank you." Kaitlyn smiled.

"You're welcome." Atom smiled back.

"You wanna go sit down?"

"Yeah, feel a whole lot less anxious now."

"That's good."

They both left the bathroom and sat back down at the booths.

"Aye, you're back!" Emily exclaimed.

"Yeah. We talked. It's all good now."

Atom chuckled.

"Hey, guess our plan worked after all!"

"Wait, plan?" Atom tilted his head.

"They set this up." Kaitlyn glared at Emily and Tenma.

"Oh."

"I gotta give it to you guys, though. I'm sure me and Atom would have absolutely refused to see each other if you had told us."

"I was gonna wait 2 years to call you so you wouldn't remember me calling a few days ago…" Atom looked down at the table.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I should have answered..."

"It's fine, haha, all in the past."

"Well we had to tell the waitress we aren't ready 5 times already, so how about you guys finish choosing your meals."

Atom pushed his menu aside.

"I just want salad."

((END OF CHAPTER 16))


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